Recovered Mbappe set to start for PSG

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

PARIS ST GERMAIN are confident Kylian Mbappe will be fit for tonight’s Champions League quarterfinal against Atalanta in Lisbon.

The fleet-footed forward missed PSG’s Coupe de la Ligue final victory over Lyon on July 31, having suffered an ankle injury in the Coupe de France final win over St Etienne a week earlier.

But boss Thomas Tuchel provided an upbeat assessment of the 21-yearold’s fitness at yesterday’s press conference, saying:

“If he trains well today and if nothing extraordinary happens then he is in the team tomorrow.”

Fellow striker Neymar will definitely feature in the one-legged clash, and Tuchel is expecting the Brazilian to deliver a performance worthy of the stage.

“He likes the big matches and he likes decisive matches,” said the German.

“He’s a player you can trust in the big matches. I’m absolutely convinced he will put on a big performance and that he holds the keys for us, he has the mentality for situations like this.”

While PSG can boast football’s two most expensive players in

Neymar and Mbappe, Gian Piero Gasperini is content for Atalanta to remain more than the sum of their parts.

He said: “We’ve shown that a team without a particular European heritage can do well, with values like willpower, motivation, enthusiasm. I think people like this a lot. We have a big responsibility to not disappoint – not with the result but with these values.”