Paris seek final Group A flourish against Shakhtar
Monday, December 7, 2015
Article summary
Laurent Blanc's Paris are out to "conclude the group stage in style" as they welcome Shakhtar Donetsk, their only regret the fact they can no longer top Group A.
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Article body
- Laurent Blanc looking forward to a classy encounter with Shakhtar Donetsk
- "It's frustrating not to be able to compete for top spot," he adds
- Paris are certain to finish second in Group A behind Real Madrid
- The Pitmen must at least match Malmö's result in Madrid to come third
- Mircea Lucescu admits his side have been starting games assuming they will lose
Possible lineups
Paris: Trapp; Aurier, Marquinhos, David Luiz, Maxwell; Matuidi, Rabiot, Thiago Motta: Di María, Ibrahimović, Cavani.
Out: Pastore (hamstring), Thiago Silva (rested)
Doubtful: Verratti (ankle), Van der Wiel (back)
Shakhtar: Kanibolotskiy; Srna, Kucher, Rakitskiy, Ismaily; Stepanenko, Fred, Marlos, Bernard; Alex Teixeira; Ferreyra.
Out: Gladkiy (rib)
Doubtful: Malyshev (knee), Taison (unspecified), Stepanenko (unspecified)
Laurent Blanc, Paris coach
It's frustrating not to be able to compete for top spot tomorrow, but let's hope we won't be too sorry about that after the draw. It's frustrating because it comes down to a stupid goal we conceded in Madrid, in a match where we deserved a better result.
Now we have to live with that and get ready for tomorrow's fixture against a good team with very good players. We'll field a strong side and hope to conclude the group stage in style. Shakhtar enjoy their football, like we do, and they'll be aiming for victory.
Mircea Lucescu, Shakhtar coach
There's no such thing as a PSG B team: those guys play all the time! Football is no longer a game of 11 players; it's more like with 20. All the Paris players want to play and win. Paris have bought stars and made a team with them, thanks to a great coach in Laurent Blanc.
In the home fixture against Paris we made terrible mistakes in the first half, but we had a very good second half. It was similar during our last fixture against Real Madrid. More often than not, my players are walking onto the pitch feeling that they have already lost.
Weekend results
Nice 0-3 Paris (Cavani 35, Ibrahimović 44pen 61)
Zlatan Ibrahimović became Paris's highest goalscorer in Ligue 1 history after taking his tally to 87, having also set up the opener for Edinson Cavani.
Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 Karpaty (Eduardo 56, Ismaily 85, Alex Teixeira 88)
The Pitmen made it 11 Ukrainian Premier League wins in succession to ensure they entered the winter break top of the table.
Form guide (all competitions, most recent first)
Paris: WDWWWW
Shakhtar: WWLWWW
Reporter's view: Chris Burke (@UEFAcomChrisB)
Paris's game plan against Shakhtar will be all about bolstering their winning dynamic in the UEFA Champions League – though keep an eye on Ibrahimović as he looks to surge ahead of George Weah as the club's record goalscorer in Europe.
Did you know?
Paris have only lost one game against opponents from Ukraine – their overall record against Ukrainian sides is W8 D2 L1 (W4 D1 home); find out more in our match background.