Manchester United caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has described Paris Saint-Germain striker Edinson Cavani as a ‘viking’ ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash at Old Trafford.
The Norwegian has huge respect for the French champions and admits their front players would be a handful for any defence.
Of course, Neymar is set to miss out on the first leg, and probably the return in Paris as well, but Ole is an admirer of Cavani, Kylian Mbappe and several other talents that coach Thomas Tuchel has at his disposal.
“Paris Saint-Germain is one of the toughest [draws] you can get, but one we look forward to, I have to say,” he told UEFA. “Their front three is probably the best front three outside of Manchester.
”They have top, top players in every position: the back four, the three in midfield, the front three – who are all fantastic. And Tuchel is very good tactically. He can play 3-4-3 or he can go with a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. So we can’t prepare any specific tactics. We have to concentrate on ourselves, to play our brand of football.
“If we do that, I think we can give them a good fight.”
“I have to say, they have everything, really. They create space for themselves, they have technique and strength.
”Cavani is like a viking, like the ones you see in videos, like a warrior almost! Mbappe has incredible pace, there is no-one as lightning quick as him.
“Then there is Neymar. The way he gets past players and he is also a good finisher.
“But still, I have three good forwards myself, no matter how many we decide to play up top, it could be two or three. As well as Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Romelu Lukaku, we have Alexis Sanchez and Jesse Lingard.
”They can challenge PSG’s defence.“
United will be aiming to take a lead to the French capital with the second leg not until Wednesday 6 March.
The two teams have never met before in a competitive fixture and anticipation is already building ahead of what promises to be a special evening at Old Trafford.