UNITED SPECIAL Mbappe set to lead line as PSG call for caution
KYLIAN Mbappe looks set to retain his role as Paris SaintGermain’s central striker against United tomorrow because Edinson Cavani is unlikely to start.
The Uruguayan missed the first leg at Old Trafford last month with a hip injury and hasn’t featured for the Ligue 1 champions since February 9.
French outlet TF1 claim Cavani will return to training on Monday but is unlikely to start against United, meaning Mbappe is likely to play through the middle, with Angel Di Maria and Julian Draxler flanking the 20-year-old forward.
Brazilian forward Neymar remains sidelined for PSG after picking up a metatarsal injury in January.
Ahead of the game, Les Parisiens coach Thomas Tuchel has urged his players to adopt a professional approach in order to ensure they progress to the Champions League quarterfinals.
“Everything is going well and we are confident. But it’s halftime in this two-legged tie. A lot of people are saying to think about Barcelona, the 4-0 and then 6-1,” Tuchel said.
“Others say that Paul Pogba is missing and it will be fine. We must find the middle ground between these two views. We cannot play with fear nor with too much confidence.”
PSG defender Marquinhos said: “We cannot think that we have done the hard bit. We cannot fall into the trap of thinking it will be easy. We have to approach this match with the same intensity, the same attitude as Old Trafford.” Kylian Mbappe netted for PSG at Old Trafford THE Champions League is a competition that means a lot to Fred. He spoke glowingly about it earlier this season and as a Shakhtar Donetsk player it was the stage that allowed his talents to shine, and that first alerted the queue of clubs that wanted to sign him this summer.
It’s worth remembering in the fallout to his fairly calamitous first season at Old Trafford that United weren’t the only ones beating a UNITED midfielder Paul Pogba will stay at the club this summer, according to former France international Robert Pires.
Pogba had been strongly linked with a transfer away from United in the summer, and a public deterioration of his relationship with Jose Mourinho only added to those rumours. But since Ole Gunnar path to the Ukraine this summer.
Pep Guardiola wanted Fred at City, too.
When United and City were scouting Fred they were unlikely to be drawing too many conclusions from his performances domestically against such illustrious names as Veres Rivne, Chornomorets Odesa and Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk.
Instead he was being judged on his performances in Europe’s leading club competition, on how he fared against City, Napoli and Roma Solskjaer has come in, Pogba has been transformed in a more advanced role, and Pires says the chances of the France international leaving United have gone down.
Pires said: “I think Paul Pogba is the best player at United and has always had the potential to become the best midfielder in the world.
“Pogba has played very well and been almost unstoppable since Solskjaer arrived at the club. He has last season, or Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid in 2015/16.
This was the competition that catapulted Fred towards the clutches of United and City, with the midfielder eventually opting for Old Trafford. His final goal for Shakhtar came against Roma in the last-16 last season.
Before joining United the 25-year-old had made 30 Champions League appearances for Shakhtar, beginning against Real Sociedad.
“It was sensational. We used to play the Champions League video game, so to be able to play in the competition with Shakhtar, to listen to that famous music, this time in the stadium... for me, it was an amazing feeling,” he said of his debut when recalling it earlier this season.
“It brings back all the memories from when I started, all the help my family gave me when I was growing up.
“To be able to play in the Champions League made me really happy – Fred been given more freedom, he’s encouraged to take more risks without fear and is playing further up the pitch.
“I don’t think United fans need to worry about Paul Pogba leaving the club. I think there was a time when he was eyeing a move to Barcelona and I wouldn’t be surprised if his agent still is, but the best thing Pogba could do would be to stay at Manchester United. even happier because we won that match.” This week Fred will almost certainly make his fourth Champions League appearance for United. Having moved to Old Trafford for £52m in the summer he’d have expected to have a far bigger impact in his first season, while United fans certainly expected more as well. He hasn’t completed 90 minutes since August and his Champions League group stage appearances home and away against Young Boys and in the dead rubber at Valencia amounted to just 190 minutes of action. But as United plot the most unlikely of comebacks in Paris this week, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will almost certainly have to turn to Fred in the Parc des Princes. With Paul Pogba suspended and Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera battling injuries, Fred may be the most experienced member of the United midfield in the French capital tomorrow night, alongside Scott McTominay and Andreas Pereira.
“I think he can continue to improve so much more at a club where he has stability and can be the main man on and off the pitch.”
Pires, who played for Arsenal between 2000 and 2006, also believes Mourinho’s tactics limited Pogba’s influence in the team.
“It’s difficult to understand why Mourinho limited him so much when it’s clear to everyone how many attributes he has,” added Pires.