The German giants will have to Compete with Neymar on Tuesday when they meet Paris Saint-Germain from the last-16 of Their Champions League Neymar will play in Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League last-16 first leg against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, Thomas Tuchel has verified. The Brazilian worldwide has been out of action since suffering a rib injury on February 1, missing four games since then in national competitions. He was confirmed in PSG’s squad before on Monday, as the Ligue 1 champions prepare to go up against Tuchel’s former team to get a spot in the Champions League quarter-finals. Kylian Mbappe is also back in the squad after being rested for Saturday’s thrilling 4-4 draw with Amiens, but the focus was on Neymar’s possible participation. Tuchel says he’ll play, barring any last-minute difficulties in training. “Neymar is here, he’s feeling well,” the German trainer told reporters. “He coached today [Monday] and will be playing tomorrow if nothing happens during training. “Obviously, it changes everything if he plays and I expect it is going to be a positive thing. “If we’ve got Ney on the area, he’s got the capability to perform decisive things. That affects everything: for his team-mates, for Kylian. “It gives me confidence, but also the team. That seems obvious to me.” Neymar has been in extraordinary form this season, scoring 13 times and setting up another six goals in his 14 Ligue 1 games. The most expensive player of all time has just played twice in the Champions League this term, however, scoring once. PSG were pumped out in the last-16 last season by Manchester United and Tuchel says his group are willing to improve on that finish this time around. “The larger the match, the greater the pressure, the less you need to add,” he added. “Before a game like this we must prepare yourself, but prepare for it a few months before kick-off. I have the impression that we’ve been ready for many weeks. Now’s the time to establish it. “It is difficult in this phase, I don’t know if it is possible for 90 minutes, but we must play with plenty of intelligence. “Things get emotional, we’ll need to adapt. It’s a really high-tech game in a stadium with enormous fans. We must keep calm and careful.”

The Belgium global states that while the Bundesliga side is dangerous going forward, they can be exploited defensively. Paris Saint-Germain full-back Thomas Meunier has stated that he does not fear the challenge posed to him by Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland. Since moving into the Bundesliga side in the January transfer window from Red Bull Salzburg, the 19-year-old has been in prolific form, scoring seven times in just three Bundesliga games and adding another for good measure in a 3-2 DFB Pokal defeat to Werder Bremen on Tuesday. The teenager has scored in every game he’s played for Dortmund, despite totaling less than 200 minutes of soccer because of his new side, and with a Champions League meeting against PSG looming at the end of the month, he’ll have the opportunity to show himself in the knockout stages after scoring eight goals for Salzburg in the group stage. Meunier, who has been with PSG since moving from Club Brugge in the summer of 2016 and has experienced the disappointment of crashing out in the last-16 stage of the competition in each of those three seasons, says that Haaland is not a player who holds particular worry for the Ligue 1 leaders. “He’s got very good numbers, which underline that Dortmund score an enormous number of goals, but they are also a team that concedes plenty of goals. It’s up to us to ensure that we qualify.” Before that encounter with the Germans, PSG have a Sunday fixture with Lyon to negotiate then a Coupe de France quarter-final away to Dijon. They will then travel to Amiens and eventually will face Dortmund on February 18. Their opponents, meanwhile, have a much quieter build-up to the fixture, with league experiences against Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt prior to the Champions League tie. The return leg of this fixture will not be played until March 11 at Parc des Princes. PSG will be hoping to avoid a repeat of last year’s loss to Manchester United when they won 2-0 at Old Trafford before succumbing to a 3-1 defeat at home.

Paris Saint-Germain celebrity Kylian Mbappé has spoken of his admiration for idol Cristiano Ronaldo and considers Juventus are playing soccer under their manager Maurizio Sarri. “I grew up with the fantasy of Zidane, I loved the Amazing Brazilian players: from Pelé to Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Kakà. “It is late for me to have a career like Messi, otherwise I should have stayed in Monaco. So, logically and without needing to take away anything from Messi, I have to be motivated by Ronaldo’s career”, he said. The 21-year-old considers Juventus have a fantastic opportunity to win this year’s Champions League and considers the effect of Sarri could assist the Turin-based side to reach that goal. “Juventus are a strong team and this is demonstrated from the Champions League finals they’ve played in recent seasons. The Bianconeri have always lacked something which makes the difference, but they actually have something with Ronaldo, a participant who makes you win the important things. “So this season Juventus remains one of the favorites, that are the typical ones: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool and others of all time. Additionally, with Sarri, Juve play a fantastic game, thanks to a group of powerful players regardless.” He also talked of teammate Marco Veratti who he highly respects. “Icardi is one of the best strikers in the world, but he came with lots of humility, he put himself in the service of the group. He has already scored a lot, proving to be a significant element for PSG. I hope he continues at this rate because we are ambitious. I also score a lot but that does not mean I wish to overshadow other team-mates. “On the contrary, with Icardi there is a good deal of understanding, we have complementary styles of play, as demonstrated by the aids we exchange. The main thing is to continue like this in the second half of this season.” I think it’s clear to everybody. He is the player who has impressed me the most because I have been at PSG. He is incredibly strong and I am incredibly lucky to have him on the team. I’m proud to have the ability to play with him.” “Neymar is an excellent player that I get together with the pitch off. It has been a tough two seasons for him, but he is returning to his best degrees. It’s very good news for PSG and for people who love football. “Few teams can manage to line up strikers of our degree, but attacking does not do everything. However, we need team spirit and we must be the first forward to place ourselves in the service of the collective match, to expect to win something significant.” Mbappé, with a contract to stay at PSG until 2022, has been linked with a move to Liverpool or Real Madrid. As he’s hinted that his career should emulate that of Ronaldo who has moved through Europe with top clubs in England, Spain and Italy instead of 1 club man Messi, anticipate a move soon. He’s expected to stay in Paris at least until the summer, without a movement imminent. Whatever happens, the World Cup winner is a player with his feet firmly on the floor and will almost certainly achieve even greater success in the not too distant future.

The Parisians have Ambitions of reaching the Best but they have Neglected to treat one of the heroes with the respect his Support has merited. When Edinson Cavani departs Paris Saint-Germain this month, he’ll do so with no entire worth ever having been reflected by his standing at the club. The darling of the Parc des Princes — where he’s loved by the fans for his business, dedication and goal scoring — he’s received such love from the dugout, despite a prolific spell in France’s capital. Initially, he had been shunted out to the wing as Zlatan Ibrahimovic played through the middle and, after a trio of uncomplaining years, he finally had the chance to make the place his own. His record in Napoli suggested goals are the net result and thus it proved, as he struck at about the rate of one per game when playing in his favoured role. This was the confidence that PSG temporarily showed from the forwards, they could require the unfashionable Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting as their backup alternative for an entire year before they swooped for Inter outcast Mauro Icardi in the summertime, with the loanee hitting the floor so successfully that Cavani was all but frozen out. Such an unceremonious departure is unbefitting of a man who captained PSG, sacrificed three decades of his career by playing out of position for them and that renders as their record scorer, having found the net on 198 occasions. “It is hard not to play when you are the idol of the fans and if you are on the pitch, you score,” Pedro Pauleta — who found himself in a similar position to Cavani throughout the 2007-08 season — informed Ligue 1’s official site. “I expect that everything pans out well for the club and for himbecause he deserves to complete his period with PSG well.” But while the Parisians seem to have granted Cavani’s desire to leave, it isn’t a fantastic style for PSG to have this icon pushing to depart. “We don’t need to eliminate a player, but it might happen, that is the fact,” Tuchel clarified on the eve of Wednesday’s Coupe de la Ligue semi-final against Reims — a game that Cavani will miss formally because of groin injury. “It isn’t a simple situation for him. I am quite happy he stays positive and professional. If a person is injured, we’ve got an outstanding replacement.” And there’s the crux of Cavani’s problem: he will only be considered to play with if Icardi is inaccessible. In Tuchel’s head, the Uruguayan has been relegated to the role of luxury substitute. Little wonder, then, he has been fed up with being treated as a second-class citizen with a side he spent the peak years of his career serving in a first-class method. Having to ask a transfer only six months at the end of the time in Paris is the last insult. A move to Spain, where Atletico Madrid have made a bid of $10m for the wantaway ahead, would seem the most plausible outcome for Cavani. PSG are demanding more cash but Cavani’s desire to proceed into the Wanda Metropolitano is clear. First-team football would certainly await at goal-shy Atleti, while Diego Simeone is a huge fan of the participant’s relentless running. Equally, however, Chelsea director Frank Lampard has spoken highly of the former Palermo hitman: “I played against him and I enjoyed his mentality, his attitude and of course his target stats speak for themselves.” The Blues have held discussions with PSG, however, have, so far, stopped short of creating a formal bid for Cavani. Given he’s never played in the Premier League and is very likely to find England more difficult to accommodate than Spain because of the language barrier, it’s doubtful. It’s an unhappy position for the participant to find himself, but it reflects badly, also, on PSG, that is set to usher among their best servants of the contemporary era from the club via the rear door. For a club desperate to acquire a reputation among the best in Europe, this is no way to behave towards a participant who was nothing but a worthy ambassador through the years. All parties appear set to lose from the present situation, though most of PSG, whose very status as a European superpower appears set to be tested in the months ahead. Neymar and Kylian Mbappe have been linked with moves to Spain, while the Choupo-Moting is out of contract and Icardi isn’t sure to remain once his loan deal expires in the summer. Sporting manager Leonardo is known for his nous in the transport market, but losing Cavani in these unpleasant situation threatens to be the beginning of a wholesale dismantling of the offensive armada assembled at Parc des Princes. Some may argue, however, that’s just what a club that treats its heroes in such a disrespectful manner deserves.