Paris Saint-Germain have been rocked by an internal dispute in the hours leading up to their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Liverpool.
PSG will be aiming to take another step towards retaining their European crown when they host the out-of-form Reds at the Parc des Princes tonight, and they’ll have six days to prepare for the return at Anfield next Tuesday after successfully lobbying for their Ligue 1 game against Lens to be postponed.
Luis Enrique’s side go into the tie as massive favourites in most neutrals’ eyes, but their build-up to the first leg at home has been overshadowed by a disagreement within the camp.
As per the Daily Mail, PSG chiefs are reportedly ‘unhappy’ with Fabian Ruiz for ruling himself out of tonight’s match due to a knee injury which has sidelined him for nearly three months, despite initally been described as nothing more severe than bruising.
L’Equipe reporter Loic Tanzi claimed: “There is one certainty – it’s what he says and that he repeats that, as long as he is in pain and suffering, he doesn’t want to play. So much that he is in pain and suffering, he doesn’t want to play. At the slightest pain, he doesn’t want to train.”
The 30-year-old’s reluctance to return to action has seemingly caused friction within the club, with some high-ranking staff believing that his knee is now ‘completely fine’ and that he could’ve played against Toulouse in Ligue 1 last Friday.
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With Liverpool travelling to Paris desperately short of confidence, any potential factor in the Reds’ favour would be most welcome, and the apparent dispute within the PSG camp is something on which Arne Slot’s side could seek to capitalise.
A European champion at both club and international level, Ruiz had been a fixed presence in Enrique’s starting XI before his injury, and his ongoing absence represents a big miss from their line-up, even though they made light work of Chelsea in the Champions League round of 16.
It’s not as though the French giants have a gaping hole in their midfield without the Spaniard – they can still call upon the likes of Vitinha, Joao Neves, Lucas Beraldo and Warren Zaire-Emery – but they’re still weaker without his presence.
That said, the Liverpool camp isn’t exactly a bastion of watertight harmony right now, with Florian Wirtz publicly disagreeing with Virgil van Dijk’s assertion that the Reds ‘gave up’ in their meek FA Cup defeat to Manchester City last weekend.
If we’re to confound the form book and come away from the Parc des Princes with a result, it’ll require one of our best performances of the season, which’ll only be achieved through maintaining a united front throughout the team from first whistle to last.
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