Lionel Messi and Neymar, starters in Paris Saint-Germain’s attack against Clermont. (Photo: Ariel Schalit / AP)
With Lionel Messi starting but without Kylian Mbappé, reigning Ligue 1 champion Paris Saint-Germain will begin their journey this Saturday in a new edition of the French national competition: they will visit Clermont at the Stade Gabriel Montpied from 4: 00:00 The match will be broadcast on ESPN.
PSG started their season last Sunday when they defeated Nantes 4-0 in Tel Aviv to claim the Champions Trophy. That was the first official match under the guidance of Christophe Galtier, who replaced Mauricio Pochettino a month ago.
Now the team of the French capital will begin the defense of the championship crown that last season, Messi’s first at the club, obtained without difficulty. He will do it without Mbappé, who suffers from a muscle injury to his adductors and has not been called up to travel to Clermont-Ferrand.
Lionel Messi starts his second season at PSG. (Photo: Sarah Meyssonnier / Reuters)
In the absence of the Ligue 1 striker, Messi and Brazilian Neymar’s attacking partner will be Spaniard Pablo Sarabia, who has returned to PSG this season after a year on loan at Sporting Lisbon.
Among those cited by Galtier for this commitment is Leandro Paredes, despite his future appearing far from Paris: without much space in the French team, he will probably emigrate in the next few days (Juventus is his most likely destination). Mauro Icardi, another player who seems to have a few hours at the club, has not been called up.
Among the few reinforcements PSG have added for this season, Portuguese Vitinha is expected to start in midfield. On the bench, on the other hand, the young Hugo Ekitike and Nordi Mukiele will be waiting. The latest addition, the Portuguese Renato Sanches, has not been called up, as it was only on Friday that he trained for the first time with the squad.
Portuguese Vitinha, one of the few reinforcements PSG has added for this season. (Photo: Twitter @vitinha)
The first test of the French champion will be against an opponent who had a very positive start last season, but then collapsed in the second round and ended up fighting until the last few days to avoid relegation (he finished 16th, four units behind the promotion). .
The first round of Ligue 1 began on Friday with a 2-1 victory for Olympique de Lyon over Ajaccio. Brazilian Mateus Tetê and returning Alexandre Lacazette have transformed for the winner, which saw the debut of Argentina defender Nicolás Tagliafico, while Thomas Mangani served for one of the teams that were promoted to the French first division this season .
Probable formations
Clermont: Mory Diaw; Alidu Seidu, Mateusz Wieteska, Florent Ogier, Neto Borges; Maxime Gonalons, Johan Gastien; Jim Allevinah, Saîf-Eddine Khaoui, Elbasan Rashani; Comnenus Andric. Trainer: Pasquale Gastiano.
Paris Saint-Germain: Gianluigi Donnarumma; Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos, Presnel Kimpembe; Achraf Hakimi, Marco Verratti, Vitinha, Nuno Mendes; Lionel Messi; Neymar, Pablo Sarabia. Trainer: Christophe Galtier.
Referee: Jeremy Stinat.
Stage: Gabriel Montpied (Clermont-Ferrand).
Start time: 16.
Transmission: ESPN.
Source: Clarin
