Pochettino unlikely to risk PSG duo Marquinhos and Verratti in Bayern return

By Sports Desk April 12, 2021

Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed Marquinhos and Marco Verratti are unlikely to start the second leg against Bayern Munich as Paris Saint-Germain look to reach the Champions League semi-finals.

Verratti, along with fellow Italy international Alessandro Florenzi, missed the first meeting between the teams in Munich after testing positive for COVID-19.

However, the duo have received the all-clear and are back in training ahead of the return fixture in the French capital, with PSG holding a 3-2 advantage at the halfway stage in the tie.

Pochettino told the media on Monday he is yet to decide on his line-up, with Marquinhos remaining a doubt due to a thigh injury.

"We haven't decided the team for tomorrow yet, but it will be difficult for Verratti to start," the PSG boss said in his pre-game news conference. "Florenzi will be assessed further tomorrow."

On Marquinhos' status, he added: "We will see how he feels tomorrow. In theory, he could be involved in the squad, so we will see.

"I don't think he will be able to start, certainly, but he may be able to be on the bench. We will decide that on Wednesday."

PSG knocked out Barcelona in the previous round 5-2 on aggregate, though were held to a 1-1 draw at home in the second leg following a resounding triumph at Camp Nou.

Pochettino is well aware that the tie with Bayern – who he made clear are the best team in the world – is much tighter, meaning his players must find the right balance between retaining their slender advantage and also posing problems in attack for their opponents.

"At home to Barcelona, particularly in the first half, we found it very hard to keep the ball, even with Verratti and Leandro Paredes in the team," Pochettino said.

"It is not about individual names but collective attitude. We have to have a different approach from the Barcelona game while understanding that we don't just need to defend but also to keep the ball to attack and hurt the opposition.

"This is the challenge that lies ahead, and once again we have a positive first-leg result to build on."

PSG have won all four of their previous games in which they have hosted the German side in European competition, while only three of the previous 50 teams to lose the first leg at home in a Champions League knockout tie have managed to progress.

Pochettino, though, is well aware of the size of the task the hosts face against the defending champions, with Bayern having gone 16 games unbeaten in the competition under Hansi Flick prior to the loss on home soil last week.

"The Barcelona game is the past, Bayern are the best team in the world at the moment so they will certainly make it difficult for us," the former Tottenham head coach said.

"We need the strength and ability to manage those moments, just as we did in the first leg in Munich.

"They are world champions who have won six trophies in recent months. We are the pretenders and contenders to win the trophy. We have to consider all the circumstances surrounding the tie.

"If we get through to the semi-finals, it will be a big achievement for the club. PSG want to win every competition we are involved in, but beating Bayern Munich, in itself, would be a big feat."

Related items

  • Grant Hanley withdraws from Scotland squad for upcoming friendlies Grant Hanley withdraws from Scotland squad for upcoming friendlies

    Grant Hanley has withdrawn from the Scotland squad for the friendlies against Netherlands and Northern Ireland as Norwich strive to get the defender back to full fitness.

    The 26-year-old has made nine appearances for the Canaries since returning on Boxing Day after eight months out with an Achilles injury.

    However, Hanley has missed his club’s last two matches in the Championship after limping out of their defeat at Middlesbrough earlier this month.

    It was confirmed by the Scottish Football Association on Tuesday morning that Hanley will not feature in Scotland’s upcoming friendly double-header, meaning he will not have played for the national team for more than a year by the time Steve Clarke selects his squad for the European Championships.

    Norwich manager David Wagner said after Saturday’s win at Stoke that, after conversations with Hanley and the club’s fitness and medical staff, they had agreed to “pull him out of team training because he is not as explosive and as sharp as he was when he was on his best.”

    “He is a very physical centre-half,” added Wagner. “If he is physically on his best then he is one of the best, or the best, in the division. We have to make sure, and he feels the same, to get him back to that level.

    “So we now pull him out of team training and we give him a proper individual programme in the next couple of weeks, or how long it will take, to get back to that level.

    “Obviously, we all together know it was a very serious injury and it takes time, even if we are happy that his Achilles is fine. But we have to get him back to the explosive, sharp Grant Hanley he was before his injury.”

    It remains to be seen if Scotland will call up a replacement centre-back for Hanley, who won the last of his 48 caps in the home win over Spain a year ago.

  • Grant Hanley pulls out of Scotland squad for upcoming friendlies Grant Hanley pulls out of Scotland squad for upcoming friendlies

    Grant Hanley has withdrawn from the Scotland squad for the friendlies against Netherlands and Northern Ireland as Norwich strive to get the defender back to full fitness.

    The 26-year-old has made nine appearances for the Canaries since returning on Boxing Day after eight months out with an Achilles injury.

    However, Hanley has missed his club’s last two matches in the Championship after limping out of their defeat at Middlesbrough earlier this month.

    It was confirmed by the Scottish Football Association on Tuesday morning that Hanley will not feature in Scotland’s upcoming friendly double-header, meaning he will not have played for the national team for more than a year by the time Steve Clarke selects his squad for the European Championships.

    Norwich manager David Wagner said after Saturday’s win at Stoke that, after conversations with Hanley and the club’s fitness and medical staff, they had agreed to “pull him out of team training because he is not as explosive and as sharp as he was when he was on his best.”

    “He is a very physical centre-half,” added Wagner. “If he is physically on his best then he is one of the best, or the best, in the division. We have to make sure, and he feels the same, to get him back to that level.

    “So we now pull him out of team training and we give him a proper individual programme in the next couple of weeks, or how long it will take, to get back to that level.

    “Obviously, we all together know it was a very serious injury and it takes time, even if we are happy that his Achilles is fine. But we have to get him back to the explosive, sharp Grant Hanley he was before his injury.”

    It remains to be seen if Scotland will call up a replacement centre-back for Hanley, who won the last of his 48 caps in the home win over Spain a year ago.

  • Paul Gallacher backing Hearts duo Zander Clark and Craig Gordon for Euro 2024 Paul Gallacher backing Hearts duo Zander Clark and Craig Gordon for Euro 2024

    Paul Gallacher revealed how Zander Clark and Craig Gordon are pushing each other to new heights as he backed the two Hearts goalkeepers to go to Euro 2024 with Scotland.

    Clark and Gordon are both currently with Steve Clarke’s squad preparing for friendlies against Netherlands and Northern Ireland, alongside fellow goalkeepers Angus Gunn of Norwich and Motherwell’s Liam Kelly.

    The Scotland boss has said that – barring injury – three of those four will go to the Euros, and Hearts goalkeeping coach Gallacher would be “immensely proud” if he is waving both of his main men off to Germany this summer.

    “They’ve both worked ever so hard to get to where they are, both for different reasons,” the former Scotland goalkeeper told the PA news agency.

    “It’s a privilege to work with the two of them and I truly hope they both go to the Euros.”

    Gordon, 41, was the undisputed number one for both Scotland and Hearts prior to sustaining a career-threatening double leg break 15 months ago.

    Clark took the gloves at Tynecastle after Gordon’s injury and has held on to them since the veteran returned to contention in December.

    The 31-year-old former St Johnstone keeper has kept 14 clean sheets in 30 league matches this term and also won his first three Scotland caps in the first half of the season.

    Gallacher has been impressed with how both men have dealt with their respective challenges over the past year and a bit.

    “Craig’s back, he’s absolutely back,” said the goalie coach. “You see him make saves every day in training and you just go ‘yep, that’s him back’.

    “He’s got himself into a fantastic condition, he’s back to where he was before the injury. He’s top-notch, he’s world class at times, he really is.

    “Obviously he’s not getting any younger but he keeps on pushing, and I think that’s pushing Zander on as well. You can see the level Zander’s hit. From where he was to where he is now is night and day.

    “He was a good goalkeeper when he first came to the club but he has kicked on under severe pressure.

    “Not a lot of folk could cope with that pressure of coming in to replace Craig Gordon, a Hearts legend, but he’s stood up and done it, which is no easy feat. That cannot be underestimated.

    “There has been pressure on both of them but they’ve dealt with it brilliantly.”

    Gunn appears to have become Scotland’s first-choice keeper since Gordon’s injury, but Gallacher is adamant both Hearts goalies would be perfectly equipped mentally and physically to play against Group A opponents Germany, Hungary or Switzerland in June if required.

    “I know from working closely with them how the two of them can handle occasions,” said Gallacher, who won eight Scotland caps between 2002 and 2004.

    “Zander, the way he’s playing, could handle it no problem at all. And Craig, with the number of caps he’s got (74), could be pitched in no problem at all.

    “I know it might come across as biased but I’d have no qualms at all about either of them being in that starting line-up.”

    Gallacher laughed off any notion that their mutual determination to play for club and country might have had a detrimental effect on the relationship between Gordon and Clark, who has been restricted to just three Scottish Cup outings since his rival’s return.

    “They’re brilliant, honestly, there is no animosity whatsoever,” he said. “They’re great guys, brilliant to be around.

    “But when they’re on that pitch, they push each other. They’re all about trying to improve and striving to be the number one for this football club.

    “We are truly blessed to have two guys of that calibre battling for the number one jersey at Hearts.”

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.