Blanc warns PSG not to concede to Barca

Andy West 02:19 15/04/2015
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  • Cautious: PSG manager Laurent Blanc.

    Laurent Blanc will send out his depleted Paris Saint-Germain team on the defensive despite having the benefit of home advantage in tonight’s Champions League quarter-final clash with Barcelona.

    The French club, who stunned Chelsea in the previous round, will be without star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic after he was sent off at Stamford Bridge.

    Key midfielder Marco Verratti (suspended) is also absent, while another midfield man, Thiago Motta, is extremely unlikely to feature before next week’s second leg despite a quicker than expected recovery from a hamstring injury. Central defender David Luiz has been included in the squad but is a major doubt. 

    Although Blanc still possesses plenty of attacking quality, including his front three of Edinson Cavani, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore – the player strangely described by Eric Cantona yesterday as the best in the world – the PSG boss is setting a safety-first approach in the hope of preventing Barca from registering an away goal.

    However, the former France international defender appreciates that is a tall order. He said: “The idea is to keep a clean sheet, but they always end up scoring. They can score at any moment and we will have to defend well for every second of the game.”

    Having already played each other in this season’s group stage – with both teams winning their home games – as well as in the Champions League quarter-final two years ago, PSG and Barca know each other’s strengths and weaknesses extremely well.

    Blanc is not expecting any tactical surprises. Specifically, he will be ordering his players not to expend all their energies on stopping Lionel Messi, saying: “Messi is the best in the world – when he scores 40 goals it’s regarded as a bad season.

    “Did you see his goal against Sevilla [on Saturday]? Everybody knew what he was going to do, but still nobody could stop him.

    “But we must not focus only on him. We need to be well grouped to not leave spaces, but also be capable of starting attacks quickly. We have learned lessons from the group games.”

    The absence of both Verratti and Motta from the centre of midfield will probably give an opportunity in the starting line-up to rising star Adrien Rabiot, a 20-year-old who has played less than two hours of Champions League football this season.

    Despite Rabiot’s inexperience, Blanc has full confidence in the youngster, saying: “I like him as a footballer, he can do a lot of things. When we say that the future is him and Verratti, it is not a joke.

    “With the players missing, he may start this game and I would be very happy about that. He will have to show his personality.”

    And another young player receiving backing from Blanc is Marquinhos, who is likely to step into the centre of defence to replace Luiz.

    The 20 year-old Brazilian was a transfer target for Barca last summer but the French club refused to sell and Blanc believes he can shine tonight.

    “He is having a good season and will get even better,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique gave short shrift to questions about Neymar after the Brazilian reacted angrily to being substituted at the weekend.

    Neymar scored in Barcelona’s game at Sevilla in La Liga on Saturday but was taken off to make way for Xavi in the second half of a match which ended in a 2-2 draw.

    He responded by making a series of frustrated hand gestures before removing a boot and angrily throwing it to the floor.

    Enrique said: “As coach I understand and know that all players want to be on the pitch, all without exception. But the players all need to understand that I make the decisions.”

    When pressed if Neymar would start tonight, the Barca boss refused to be drawn, adding: “I have brought almost all my players. Tomorrow I will decide.”

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