LISBON (AP) – The biggest fear of Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel, who demanded crutches on the bench, gave the impression that it was Kylian Mbappé’s fitness.
The front striker’s vision with the ball on foot in education welcomed the French triples on the eve of the Champions League quarter-final against Atalanta on Wednesday.
“If you train well today and nothing special happens, tomorrow you will be on the road,” Tuchel said earlier at Benfica’s stadium.
“We are also pleased that Kylian can be in the group, we can finish the match with him and Neymar, because that gives him a player he likes to play with.”
It would be a quick recovery for Mbappé, two weeks after being low for about 3 weeks for an ankle ligament injury sustained in the French Cup final.
With 30 goals in 34 appearances this season, Mbappé could play a key role in the elimination of the top-ranked team in the Serie A, which is in the Champions League for the first time.
“Atalanta, it’s transparent that they play a very exclusive flavor,” Tuchel said. “They play almost one-on-one on the total pitch. They attack with seven players from the opposing team. It’s an exclusive taste like I said. It’s misleading and confusing to play against them. They also scored a lot of goals. “
Tuchel will also be for mauro Icardi’s goals, with Edinson Cavani out of the call-up since his contract expired this summer after the coronavirus pandemic prolonged the season.
“Mauro is super vital, especially with Kylian and Edi Cavani’s injury gone missing,” Tuchel said. “It’s very vital that he plays well. He wants to show his personality, he’s a fighter in the big games. He’s never afraid, he can score.
“He is very trustworthy defensively. It is very much incorporated into this group. He also found it too confusing because there are several South Americans on the team. It’s time for him to show that he can send us to the semi-finals.” »
PSG has reached the semi-finals for 25 years, long before Qatari investments enter the Club of the French capital in 2011.
Neymar, however, has the joy of going even further, winning the European Cup with Barcelona in 2015.
The time has come for the world’s top player to deliver in the Champions League, as he did in the 16th circular. The Brazilian scored both matches while PSG beat Borussia Dortmund 3–2 overall.
“I feel like you’re still playing with strainArray … but he likes it,” Tuchel said. “We can’t believe the amount of tension. I feel like that.. He can deal with it, he likes it. He likes the big decisive matches, he’s trustworthy in the big games, that’s where he’s at his best.”
“Surely I am convinced that you will have a wonderful game, which tomorrow will be the key player for us. He has the quality and mentality for those kinds of situations.”
___
More AP Football: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports