Mauricio Pochettino says PSG will take a risk against Man City tonight

The manager of Paris Saint Germain, Mauricio Pochettino has insisted that his team is ready to “suffer” against Manchester City and his team is ready to battle City with their 2-1 advantage.

PSG are going to be in England to play against Manchester City later today, May 4, at 20:00 in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final round. Manchester City won the first leg of the round 2-1 in Paris which means that the Premier League club needs just a draw to scale through.

Unfortunately for Mauricio Pochettino and his boys, the only way they can make it to the final of the competition is to beat the in-form Premier League team with two goals without conceding none.

This is seen as a tall order due to the form of Manchester City that are currently topping the Premier League table with 80 points, 13 points above second-placed Manchester United.

Hence, Mauricio Pochettino who has once helped Tottenham Hotspur to the final of the UEFA Champions League, noted that his team must be aggressive and clinical to stand a chance against City.

He said: “We need to be ready to suffer in some parts of the game and, when we have our chances, we need to be clinical and aggressive.

“It’s a game, 90 minutes, and we need to finish scoring twice. We need two goals if we want to go through to the final. That’s objective and we’re going to try.

“They have an advantage, 2-1, and we need to take a risk. We need to be brave, be clever, believe, and show our quality on the pitch…

“It is going to be a battle but, most importantly, we will be ready. Players love to play these types of games. No one wants to be out. They all want to be involved.”

Mauricio Pochettino might be without PSG’s talisman Kylian Mbappe

As hard as things are for coach Mauricio Pochettino, he might be without the club’s talisman, Kylian Mbappe who is currently battling to regain match fitness.

During the pre-match press conference for tonight’s second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final game, the Argentine coach said the club would decide whether or not Kylian Mbappe is fit to play against City today.

Pochettino said: “We need to assess Kylian. Today (Monday) he is going to start an individual training session and see if he can be with the team.

“There is still one day and we will see and decide if he is going to be available. We will make the decision tomorrow (Tuesday).”

Meanwhile, the European football governing body, UEFA has fined PSG £26,000 for delaying the start of the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final round.

Also, the club’s midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye will be suspended for the final if the club qualifies. Initially, the player received a one-match ban for a rough challenge in the first leg which would have seen him miss tonight’s game.

However, UEFA confirmed on Monday that the ban has been extended to two due to the gravity of the challenge. UEFA decided to extend the ban after a disciplinary hearing was held against him according to a statement from the football governing body.