Guardiola will not be fooled and believes PSG star will feature against Manchester City
With only half the job done, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola fears the second leg of the Champions League Semi-Final against PSG will be even harder than the first leg.
Manchester City are well placed to make their first Champions League Final in the club’s history with them 2-1 up against Paris Saint-Germain, and those two goals counting as away goals.
What is believed to have shifted the result even more in their favour as we approach the second semi-final act, Kylian Mbappe is a major doubt with a thigh injury that kept him from featuring over the weekend in their Ligue 1 win over Lens.
Pep Guardiola expects PSG's main man to be fit for their #UCL clash tonight despite talk he is a major doubt
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Sparking further speculation that there would be no Mbappe, the world-class forward was caught limping on Monday which led to the PSG boss, Mauricio Pochettino, admitting they could be without a key asset in a must-win fixture.
"Mbappe missed his team’s weekend league win over Lens with a thigh injury he had picked up before he played against City last week.And he was filmed limping on Monday, fuelling rumours that he might not be ready for a game in which the prize is a place in the final in Istanbul on May 29."
Even though it appears the French side will be without one of the most influential players, Pep is not having it.
He will not be fooled by the injury talks and has no doubts that Mbappe will face his side when the pair meet at the Etihad on Tuesday night.
What Pep had to say when asked about Mbappe:
"Absolutely, I’m looking forward to it.He’s going to play. I’m looking forward to him playing. For the football, for the game itself, hopefully he can play. (Via: manchestereveningnews.co.uk)"
The Frenchman has been a standout player in this season’s Champions League competition. From the group stages to the knockout phase, he has featured 10 times.
He has scored eight goals and assisted three goals in the tournament so far – his most coming in the knockout stage with six goals scored between the round of 16 and quarterfinals.
This alone displays how much they need him fit for the final semi-final showdown and how Man City scores without him on the pitch – even though he had little contribution to show for in their first meeting last week in France.
Manchester City has a fully-fit squad to take on PSG
The Parisians luck has not been the same as they have to face a Man City side boasting no injuries. Yes, Eric Garcia was missing from selection the weekend but he has had little to do for Pep Guardiola.
The Spanish centre-back, who is Barcelona bound, has featured fewer times this season for the Manchester club. This purely based on his summer exit. He has only taken the field 10 times this season so far for City.
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Other than that, Guardiola will be hoping his side has a better start to the fixture than what they had in Parc des Princes where they were the first team to concede on the night.