Paris (AFP)
Paris SG, finally launched, aligns its "Fantastic Four" in Reims, Sunday (9:00 p.m.), for the first time of the season but also the last until the end of October, between the upcoming suspension of Angel di Maria and that that Neymar fears.
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Neymar: epilogue Wednesday
Neymar, after a month of August rubbing shoulders with the stars in the Champions League, had a hard landing.
The Brazilian superstar is currently at the center of a controversy around racist and homophobic remarks which extended the stormy "Clasico" lost against Marseille on September 13 (1-0).
Excluded during the meeting which marked his return to competition, after a positive test for Covid-19 on September 2, "Ney" has already been suspended for two matches (plus one suspended) for his involvement in a debut of general brawl.
“I lacked wisdom,” he wrote on Instagram, in the form of a mea culpa.
But he risks even bigger, up to ten meetings, for homophobic insults he would have uttered towards the Spanish defender Alvaro Gonzalez, and other racists towards the Japanese Hiroki Sakai.
"Ney" also ensures that Alvaro called him a "monkey".
His file will be examined Wednesday by the disciplinary committee of the League (LFP), at the end of an investigation that it opened on September 16.
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Mbappé: like a hurricane
What interruption?
Caught up by the new coronavirus during a gathering of the France team on September 7, Kylian Mbappé made a remarkable return to Nice (3-0) last Sunday.
His goal from the penalty spot and his enormous activity on the left side of the attack breathed new life into his club, left the Côte d'Azur with the feeling of having finally launched his season, after two defeats entering Lens (1-0) and against OM.
“I was happy to put on the jersey again. I was only absent for a week but when you miss a week here, you miss ten matches,” smiled the striker on Canal +.
But his trainer Thomas Tuchel continues to prefer to see him play with Neymar: "It's his best position, when he is close to Neymar, next to it but a little further offshore!"
In Reims, for the first time since the lost final of C1, the German technician will have the opportunity to align his fiery duo who, in parallel, are negotiating the extension of their contracts expiring in 2022.
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Di Maria: a long month of absence
Without Neymar or Mbappé, Angel di Maria held the house almost on his own.
It was he who triggered the action leading to the winning goal against Metz (1-0) on September 16, before continuing with a big performance in Nice, with a goal.
"It's always the same with Angel: he is reliable, he is strong, he has the experience, the mentality and the quality to be decisive", assured Tuchel, amazed by this "key player" also tested positive at the Covid-19 at the beginning of the month.
But now the Argentinian has been affected by the shaking of PSG-OM: his spitting in the direction of Alvaro has earned him a suspension of four matches, starting next Tuesday.
If he is available in Reims, he will not be able to replay in Ligue 1 before ... the weekend of November 8.
"It is a hard sanction, difficult, because it is a long period", reacted to an Argentinian radio the player, who will however be operational for the Champions League at the end of October - certainly the next gathering of "Four fantastic ".
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Icardi: a N.9 who is looking for his place
This summer, Mauro Icardi was reinforced in the Parisian attack: the club exercised its purchase option (estimated at EUR 60 million) to make him the successor of Edinson Cavani, from whom he also took the number N.9.
However, the Argentine "Goleador" has not scored since February 29.
His influence waned to the point that Tuchel left him on the bench for the semi-final and the final of C1, in August.
Tested positive for Covid-19 in early September, the former Milanese made a mixed comeback, even if he was not far from scoring in Nice, with a post.
In Reims, with the "Fantastic Four" in full, he has his chance to finally start his season, too.
© 2020 AFP