Paris Saint-Germain can book their spot in the knockout stages of the Champions League with a win against Benfica on Tuesday.
The French champions’ form has dipped recently, and they were held to a draw by the Portuguese giants at the Estadio da Luz last week.
Here’s the lineup Christophe Galtier could select to stop their recent slump.
GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma – Italy’s number one has become the permanent starting goalkeeper at club level since Galtier’s arrival, relegating Keylor Navas to the bench for good.
CB: Nordi Mukiele – Though he’s primarily played as a wing-back, summer signing Mukiele has reverted to playing in a back three too recently.
CB: Marquinhos – The skipper is now into his tenth season at PSG. Testimonial, anyone?
CB: Sergio Ramos – Despite a relatively quiet start to his first year or so in France, Ramos picked up his second red card for PSG at the weekend.
RWB: Achraf Hakimi – Hasn’t scored or assisted since September 6. Sort it out, Achraf.
CM: Marco Verratti – Only former centre-back Jean-Marc Pilorget has played for PSG more times than the Italian.
CM: Vitinha – Though Renato Sanches has struggled with injury this year, it’s interesting that Galtier has thrown his immediate and almost unquestioned support behind Vitinha in PSG’s undersized midfield.
LWB: Juan Bernat – In an online FM save a few years ago, I changed his name to ‘There’s Only Juan Bernat’. Anyway, Nuno Mendes is injured so he’ll start here.
RF: Pablo Sarabia – Lionel Messi is injured, leaving Sarabia as the first reserve to take his place. I’m sure PSG won’t notice the difference.
LF: Neymar – His early season form has cooled off but with Messi out Neymar is as crucial as ever to PSG’s chances of winning.
CF: Kylian Mbappe – Hey, he probably picks the team himself anyway.
Credit: 90min.com
