After a streak of two draws, Paris Saint Germain looks to get back on the path of triumph when it faces Troyes at the Parc des Princes in one of the matches corresponding to Date 36 of Ligue 1 . The Argentine Lionel Messi plays from the start despite the fact that he presented intercostal pain this Saturday.
Already at the dawn of the meeting the Parisian team found themselves in the lead. After three minutes, after the goalkeeper drowned out his cry, Ángel Di María sent a deep cross and Marquinhos only needed to take the ball in front to open the scoring .
Even without being consistent, at times showing a game (aftermath of the 4-2-3-1 with figures in the lead with little setback), the homeowner hurt when he proposed it. But he also suffered in quick transitions or under pressure at the start, walking along the ledge. Even so, at 22 ′, Neymar enabled Mbappé, who leaked into the area and received a foul when he was preparing to define. The French striker instilled fear in the fans because he spent several minutes lying on the grass. Neymar took over the responsibility and with a subtle shot from the corner made it 2-0 .
But, almost immediately, Troyes was back in the game. Nuno Mendes missed a back pass, intercepted Ugbo and did not spare: it was 1-2 for the visitor . Messi had two chances to return to the advantage of two for PSG. First, after a deep ball from Fideo, but his attempt went wide. Then, after a dribble in the area and a soft touch, which deserved to be a goal, but his definition hit the left post of the goal. The rebound was sent by Neymar to the net, but in an advanced position.
In the epilogue, after several minutes with one less change after the infraction in the penalty, Mbappé reacted and almost scored a goal with his seal: he stole the ball on the right, made the siagonal towards the center and took a furious shot, which deflected with just enough Moulin.
The complement began complicated for the Country Saint Germain: after 4 minutes, Kimpembe committed an innocent penalty, which Tardieu defined with a Vaseline. And sealed an unexpected 2-2 .
PSG have already secured the league title thanks to a massive 14-point lead over AS Monaco and Jorge Samapoli’s Olympique Marseille , who currently sit in second place. But Pochettino ‘s team aims to finish the season with the most points and with victories in the remaining commitments.
It was a somewhat lackluster campaign as, although they were crowned champions of the league early , they suffered early elimination from the Champions League and Coupe de France . Even in the league, PSG haven’t been very consistent in recent games and Troyes put them to the test again this weekend.
The away team is currently ranked 14th in the Ligue 1 standings . They are a newly promoted team that are just a few games away from securing survival on their return to the top flight, as they hold a healthy five-point lead over 18th -placed Saint-Etienne . Even with a draw against PSG , could be very close to sealing permanence.
In the first round, PSG had defeated Troyes 2-1 in a match that was played in August without several of the great figures of the Parisian team . In fact, for this duel in the second round, Lionel Messi was almost left out of the squad due to pain in his ribs , but he appeared in the starting line-up presented by the club.
Pochettino made some changes from the team that drew with Strasbourg in the last game. Keylor Navas returns to goal after a less than solid performance from Donnarumma , while also leaning towards a 4-2-3-1 with the return of Nuno Mendes replacing Juan Bernat and Ángel Di María for Sergio Ramos for the change of scheme.
After the last two draws against Lens and Strasbourg, Paris Saint Germain want to avoid dropping points in three consecutive Ligue 1 games for the first time since April 2019. And while Troyes have won just one of their last five tournament games, It will not be a simple obstacle.
PSG: Keylor Navas; Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Presnel Kimpembe, Nuno Mendes; Danilo Pereira, Marco Verratti; Angel Di Maria, Lionel Messi, Neymar; Kylian Mbappe. DT: Mauricio Pochettino
Troyes: Jessy Moulin; Issa Kabore, Giulian Biancone, Erik Palmer-Brown, Abdu Cadri Conté, Yasser Larouci; Renaud Ripart, Florian Tardieu, Rominigue Kouame, Xavier Chavalerin; Ike Ugbo. DT: Bruno Irles.
Referee: Jerome Brisard
Stadium: Parc des Princes
TV: Star+