From the strass of the Champions League to the tactical puzzle: the Paris SG meets this Thursday (9 p.m.) in Lens on France championship with a busy schedule and a very short workforce, the fault of the Covid-19.
It is in attack that the hecatomb is most obvious. Kylian Mbappé, Neymar, Angel Di Maria are in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus. According to L’Equipe, this is also the case for Mauro Icardi, like that of goalkeeper Keylor Navas, which has not been officially confirmed by PSG.
In addition, for this late match of the second day, midfielder Leandro Paredes and defender Marquinhos are added, also affected by the virus.
All except Mbappé returned contaminated from vacations in Ibiza. The Blues striker, who was not on the trip to the island, tested positive on Monday with the France team.
To make matters worse, the joker in attack Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting, valuable in C1, is no longer under contract with the club, even if the club is in discussions to extend it for an additional season.
Four matches in 11 days
Parisian coach Thomas Tuchel therefore finds himself with a starving workforce to start his season, 18 days after the Parisians defeated in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich (1-0).
Normally, we have a preparation phase, a few friendly matches which also give the coach a feeling, (on) who is able to play, who is in good shape, and now we don’t have that.
, regretted Tuchel.
Between the players in quarantine and the internationals selected with their selection, the German only managed 11 players in training on Monday at the Camp des Loges.
Young people joined the group in the following days, to build a team capable of keeping up with the pace for the next two weeks.
The club, which obtained a postponement of its first two matches to breathe after its European course, must suddenly chain four meetings in 11 days, including the shock against Marseille on Sunday (9:00 p.m.) at the Parc des Princes.
Indeed, if the match in Lens should probably have been postponed with the old medical protocol of the League, an easing acted at the end of last week provides for the maintenance of the matches as long as 20 players per team are tested negative on an initial list of 30.
The players in quarantine should for the most part miss PSG-OM, and will be able, except for an unfavorable development of the disease, to return for the reception of Metz on Wednesday 16, on behalf of the first day.
“We will defend ourselves”
For Tuchel, the puzzle is in place. In attack, he will have to bring up circles like Julian Draxler or Pablo Sarabia, and draw among the young people, especially if he wants rotate
in anticipation of PSG-OM.
Not to mention that Draxler, like his compatriot Thilo Kehrer and the probable captain Presnel Kimpembe, will also have international matches of the League of Nations in the legs.
Result, the first match in Ligue 1 of the Lensois in their Bollaert-Delelis stadium for nine years promises to be less spectacular than expected. And on the ground and in the stands, where, with a capacity of 5,000 spectators, the boiling atmosphere for which the Blood and Gold is famous will not be there.
What does that change? The pushes of the public are less strong and sometimes having a stronger push leads to surpassing oneself, to surpassing oneself a little more. It changes the mood, it’s obvious
, affirmed Tuesday the northerner coach, Franck Haise.
But what the Lensois lose in spectacle, they can gain in hard points. Because in addition to the prospect of facing an bis team, Yannick Cahuzac’s teammates will face a team that only returned to training on Friday.
It’s important that we play humble and give everything we have, […] and don’t expect too much from us
, moreover defused Thomas Tuchel.
We are clearly the little one, but of course we will defend ourselves
, for his part promised the Lensois goalkeeper Jean-Louis Leca. He himself, he recalled, had beaten in 2015 with Bastia the gang in Zlatan Ibrahimovic …
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