The line-ups of Club Brugge and Paris Saint-Germain are known. Trainer Mauricio Pochettino opts for a three-man vanguard with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. With this, the 34-year-old Argentinian makes his basic debut in the shirt of the Parisians. Behind the attack trio, Georginio Wijnaldum can count on a basic place. Noa Lang is the only Dutchman to start at Club Brugge, as Ruud Vormer and Bas Dost have to settle for a place on the bench. The starting gun for the meeting in Group A of the Champions League sounds at 9 p.m. from the Jan Breydel Stadium.
Messi and Neymar have not yet played together in the PSG shirt. Messi came over from Barcelona in the last transfer window and made his debut in the game against Stade de Reims. The Argentine attacker came in as a replacement for Neymar after 66 minutes of play. At the press conference in the run-up to the Champions League match, Pochettino already seemed to give up the composition of the vanguard. “I would be crazy not to start with Messi, Neymar and Mbappe,” said the selector.
Furthermore, Keylor Navas is preferred over Gianluigi Donnarumma below the bar. In front of the Chilean international is a four-man defense with Achraf Hakimi (right) and Abdou Diallo (left) as wing defenders. The central heart of the defense is formed by Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe. In midfield, Wijnaldum is joined by Ander Herrera and Leandro Paredes. Marco Verratti, Sergio Ramos and ngel Di María, among others, are not yet fit enough to appear at the kick-off.
At Club Brugge, Charles De Ketelaere is preferred to Dost in the striker position. Lang plays will act as a right striker and in the 5-3-2 formation. Vormer starts from the bench and his midfield honors are taken over by Mats Rits. Trainer Philippe Clement posts Kamal Sowah (right) and Eduard Sobol (left) in the wingback positions. Simon Mignolet is on target and together with a central defense trio he will have to stop the star ensemble of PSG from scoring.
Club Brugge line-up: Mignolet; Clinton Mata, Hendry, Nsoki; Sowah, Zipper, Vanaken, Balanta, Sobol; Long, De Ketelaere
Line-up Paris Saint Germain: navas; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Diallo; Herrera, Paredes, Wijnaldum; Messi, Mbappe, Neymar.