French legends face off as Blanc’s PSG host Makelele’s Bastia

Nathan Williams 08:43 16/08/2014
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  • Friendly rivalry: Blanc (r) will try and outwit Makelele (l), who used to be his No2.

    Laurent Blanc will be coming up against former assistant Claude Makelele when Paris Saint-Ger­main attempt to kick-start their season against Bastia today.

    The champions were held to a 2-2 draw against Reims in their opener on a weekend of shocks as big-spending Monaco also lost 2-0 at home to Lorient.

    The visit of Bastia would not nor­mally grab headlines in the capital but the return of Makelele, who quit PSG for the Corsicans in the summer to take his first job as a manager, means it will be master against apprentice at the Parc des Princes.

    Makelele went with the blessing of his former international team-mate, but Blanc would rather his former number two had stayed in the capital.

    “We weren’t expecting him to leave, but I’m not disappointed,” Blanc said. “It was his desire, his choice, and he was therefore right to seize the opportunity.

    “We would have liked him to stay with us, but I’m happy for him.

    “I hope he’s going to enjoy a great career as a manager.”

    Brazilian defender David Luiz could make his competitive debut for PSG in the match after being in­cluded in their squad.

    The 27-year-old, who cost €50 million (Dh246m), a world record fee for a defender, when he signed from Chelsea in June, has recov­ered from a nagging calf problem to take the place of compatriot Thiago Silva in the squad for PSG’s first home game of the new Ligue 1 cam­paign.

    Silva suffered a hamstring injury in Monday’s 2-1 friendly victory against Napoli that PSG said will rule their captain out for “several weeks”.

    Luiz made his debut for the club in that game after being allowed an extended summer break following Brazil’s World Cup campaign.

    However, he is likely to start the match against the Corsicans on the bench for Laurent Blanc’s side, with Zoumana Camara and Marquinhos expected to partner one another in central defence.

    Meanwhile, a highly-contentious penalty award allowed Lille to claim their first win of the Ligue 1 season yesterday, Divock Origi’s spot-kick sealing a 1-0 victory against newly-promoted Caen.

    Origi saw his charge towards goal ended by a superbly-timed chal­lenge from Dennis Appiah, but the referee stunned Caen by pointing to the spot and showing a straight red card to the defender. Despite the furore, the Liverpool-owned striker stepped up to convert.

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