Paris Saint-Germain are ‘likely’ to have Neymar and Kylian Mbappe fit to face the Reds on Wednesday night in the Champions League. The duo was feared to be unavailable for the crunch Champions League group stage game. However, PSG manager Thomas Tuchel has received positive news regarding his star players.
Napoli and Liverpool are level on six points in Group C with PSG on five and Red Star Belgrade on four. Group C is wide open with any two of the four clubs capable of progressing to the knockout stage.
Neymar and Mbappe were expected to miss the Champions League match after sustaining injuries on international duty. However, Tuchel has announced both forwards will return to training on Monday morning with an eye on being fit for Wednesday night’s game. The duo did not play in PSG’s slender 1-0 win over Toulouse on Saturday.
Thomas Tuchel on Kylian Mbappé & Neymar: "I think they can play vs. Liverpool on Wednesday." (TF1)
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) November 25, 2018
“I am more optimistic than yesterday about Neymar and Kylian,” Tuchel said. “They will be able to train on Monday.”
Liverpool defeated PSG 3-2 on matchday 1 of the Champions League. Despite the Reds outplaying PSG throughout the night, Jurgen Klopp’s team couldn’t put away their opponents. Liverpool finally gained the win thanks to a second-half stoppage-time goal courtesy of Roberto Firmino. Mbappe scored both goals for PSG as Neymar was relatively quiet during the 90-minute game.
Liverpool could have taken control of the group on matchday 4, but lost to Red Star away. Now, the Reds are in desperate need of getting a result.
The Reds are in store for a raucous reaction from PSG’s supporters. The Parisians are hungry for Champions League success as they have not made it past the quarterfinals since Qatari Sports Investment took over the club. Despite dominating French domestic football, PSG has struggled at the Champions League level when playing Europe’s biggest teams.
Group C is likely to go down to the last day of the competition to be decided. A win for Napoli on Thursday against Red Star could nearly seal the group for the Italians. Red Star could be the big winners this week, however. If Red Star win away at Napoli, they will go second in the group. Their inferior goal difference could be the biggest issue with progressing in the end.
Liverpool have received good news of their own as centre-back Joe Gomez is expected to be fit for Wednesday’s showdown in Paris.
