PSG welcome back Motta for Marseille clash
PARIS: Veteran Thiago Motta is injury for Paris Sunday’s meeting Marseille.
“The only player who is not ready, who is injured, is Javier Pastore,” said PSG coach Unai Emery as he confirmed the return of Motta for the game at the Parc des Princes.
Motta, 34, missed last weekend’s 2-1 win at Nancy and the 3-0 defeat of Basel in the Champions League in midweek because of a buttock muscle injury. Marco Verratti and Angel di Maria have shaken off knocks and will feature as PSG look to record an 11th straight win in the Classique.
PSG, who sit third in Ligue 1, four points behind leaders Nice, will be facing a Marseille side playing their Italian midfielder set to return from Saint-Germain in with bitter rivals first game under new coach Rudi Garcia, appointed by new American owner Frank McCourt. BALOTELLI AGAIN SIDELINED
Mario Balotelli will again be missing for Nice when the French Ligue 1 leaders travel to Metz on Sunday, coach Lucien Favre indicated.
The Italian has been a revelation since joining Nice, scoring five goals in four league appearances and also netting once in the Europa League.
However, he missed Thursday’s 1-0 win away to Salzburg in Europe with an adductor problem that has not yet cleared up. “We will see at the start of the week if he can return to training,” Favre said of the former Liverpool and AC Milan striker.
Nice will also be weakened by the absences of centre-back and captain Paul Baysse and Brazilian fullback Dalbert as they seek to extend their unbeaten start to the French campaign. The latter will be out for a month with a knee ligament injury suffered against Salzburg. MARACANA TO OPEN AFTER
OLY DUTY Crowds lined up on Friday at Rio’s Maracana ahead of the first club game to be played in the famed football stadium since a long break for the Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies.
A sellout crowd of more than 54,000 will attend the game on Sunday between Rio de Janeiro team Flamengo and Sao Paulo’s Corinthians.
Big lines of fans converged on the stadium earlier this week and there were still hopefuls waiting outside on Friday after the majority of tickets were snapped up online.
Flamengo are in a close race for the Brazilian title and Corinthians are battling for a berth in the South American championship, the Copa de Libertadores.
Flamengo usually play their home games at the Maracana, one of the world’s legendary footballing temples.
However, the top Rio club has been forced to make temporary arrangements to be hosted by neighbouring clubs for much of the last year while waiting for the Olympic cycle to end. Despite the Maracana’s status, it almost only hosts club games, with the national team mostly playing in other cities. The last club game played at the Maracana was a local Rio derby between Botafogo and Vasco in May.