Champions League: withstand the shock at the Etihad … Presentation and probable compositions of City-PSG – Maxifoot

Manchester City welcomes Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday in the shock of the 5th day of the group stage of the Champions League. The capital club must absolutely win the Etihad to have any chances of finishing at the top of Group A. Anything but a small task for the Lionel Messi gang.

Almost two months after their first duel at the Parc des Princes, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain find themselves, this Wednesday, in the shock of the 5th day of the group stage of the Champions League.

But while the Citizens, beaten in the French capital (2-0), did not make the slightest mistake against Bruges and Leipzig, the Parisians, for their part, lost points against the Belgians and Germans. Four in total. Enough to end up behind the English team before this meeting at the top of European football.

A victory to pass City

In other words, Paris will have to win the Etihad to hope to finish at the top of Group A, in which it is following its host of the day with a small unit. If the removal of the outside goal rule tends to put the battle to win the group into perspective, being able to avoid big chunks in the round of 16, such as Bayern, Chelsea or Liverpool, is always a good idea. A task that promises to be complex for the Mauricio Pochettino gang since the British stable has not lost home in C1 since its match against Lyon (1-2), on September 19, 2018.

For his part, the Argentine manager has only one idea: to win. We want to win. The important thing is to win with our football. The stats are important, but our priority is to win, to qualify. It’s even better if we’re first in the group , explained the Parisian coach, who returned to the 2-0 defeat of the season going to the semi-finals. We had dominated the game, we had chances but no shot on target. They had scored on their first opportunity. If you want to score you have to frame. (…) We want to qualify. We hope to take the three points , Pochettino continued.

Towards a 4-3-3 without Di Maria

For this part, the former technician of Tottenham benefits from an almost complete group. Only Rafinha and Julian Draxler, injured, miss the call. Gianluigi Donnarumma, Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe, absent against Nantes (3-1), Saturday in Ligue 1, are indeed present for this trip, like Sergio Ramos, who is making his first appearance in the team. The Spaniard should start on the bench alongside Angel Di Maria, who could be the big loser of 4-3-3 expected for this match, where Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbapp and Neymar are expected in attack.

Probable compositions

Manchester City: Ederson – Walker, Ruben Dias (c), Laporte, Joao Cancelo – Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Gundogan – Mahrez, Foden, Sterling.

Paris SG: Navas – Hakimi, Marquinhos (c), Kimpembe, Nuno Mendes – Gueye, Paredes, Verratti – Messi, Mbapp, Neymar.

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