Paris Saint Germain manager Thomas Tuchel has revealed that key midfielder Marco Verratti suffered a fresh injury in training, placing the Italian’s chances of facing Manchester United next week in doubt. The two sides meet at Old Trafford on February 12 in a hotly anticipated meeting, with the return leg in Paris taking place on March 6.
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Verratti, a key player for PSG, returned to training this week after recovering from a sprained ankle sustained last month. But Tuchel confirmed on Wednesday that the 26-year-old had encountered a fresh injury and could not finish training.
“Marco Verratti could not finish training yesterday [Tuesday]. He had problems,” he said.
PSG are notably weaker without Verratti. Against Lyon, in his absence, the central defender Marquinhos was used in defensive midfield, charged with ensuring balance and stability. He failed. Lyon were able to shift the ball quickly enough to penetrate areas in behind left by the Brazilian, whose understanding of the subtleties of defensive midfield does not come close to Verratti.
With both Neymar and Verratti missing at Old Trafford, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his players will know PSG have a fleshy underbelly capable of being exploited.
Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford has been handed Manchester United’s ‘Player of the Month’ award for January following a scintillating month under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The youngster has propelled himself to the position of first choice No.9 with a series of delightful displays since Solskjaer arrived. He has registered four goals in five starts, including winners in consecutive away games against Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Leicester City. Rashford was duly handed the ‘Player of the Month’ award following what has been a truly sensational return to form since Jose Mourinho left.
Marcus Rashford
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The calming and edifying presence of Solskjaer has worked wonders for a kid who, under Mourinho, looked petrified in the box a lot of the time, clearly conscious of the retribution in store for him from his former manager.
United’s caretaker manager has gone down a different route, and tried this weird thing called coaching. And, my god, how it has worked with Rashford, whose goals against Newcastle and Tottenham especially mirrored the kind of goal Solskjaer used to delight in scoring. There is a finesse, a sense of control, to Rashford’s game all of a sudden. Combine that with his raw aggression and you get something quite special indeed.