PSG players trained on Thursday at the Poissy Campus the day after their 3-2 defeat against Barça in the Champions League quarter-final first leg. Aware of what they had done poorly the day before, particularly defensively, the PSG players are already looking towards the return and are convinced of being able to qualify in Barcelona.
The PSG players are resting this Friday, but will train on Saturday and Sunday morning to prepare for their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Barça, scheduled for Tuesday April 16 at 9 p.m. at the Barcelona Olympic stadium (on Camp Nou is under construction). On Thursday, Luis Enrique’s men trained at the Campus. Some starters from the day before remained in the gym, others walked on the pitch and touched the ball when certain substitutes (and Achraf Hakimi) were allowed more in-depth training.
According to L’Equipe, the Parisians did not seem to suffer the blow the day after their 3-2 defeat against Barça and above all exchanged a lot between themselves, in particular on the defective defensive placements of the day before. The fact that Warren Zaire-Emery found himself marking Andreas Christensen – which makes him almost 10 centimeters – on the third Barcelona goal scored from a corner was, for example, not understood by everyone.
The non-starting of Zaire-Emery would have surprised some players
On the set of the L’Equipe channel, Bertrand Latour confirmed that there was no despondency within the Parisian locker room and that the players were convinced of being able to reverse the trend upon their return. According to this source, some Parisian starters were also surprised by the absence of Warren Zaire-Emery at kick-off. On the Parisian side, we also confirm that the Parisian locker room believes in its chances of qualifying for the return match. Same story reported by RMC Sport. Like his players, Luis Enrique’s staff is also confident.
PSG is exempt from Ligue 1 this weekend, its match at Lorient having been postponed to Wednesday April 24 by the LFP in order to allow it to better prepare for its quarter-final return against Barcelona. For its part, Barça also trained on Thursday and will play this Saturday in Cádiz as part of the 31st day of La Liga. With eight points behind Real Madrid, the Catalan club should have a lot to do this weekend.