Paris Saint-Germain manager Laurent Blanc stated that he is not particularly concerned over the fitness of first-choice goalkeeper Kevin Trapp prior to the club’s Champions League quarter-final encounter with Manchester City on Tuesday evening.
The 25-year-old was withdrawn midway through PSG’s 2-0 victory over Guingamp on Saturday due to a thigh injury sustained after a clash with team-mate Layvin Kurzawa and Marcus Coco, where the former's head appeared to have collided with Trapp’s knee.
Kurzawa obtained a bloody nose but played out the remainder of the match while Salvatore Sirigu replaced his German counterpart at half-time.
Laurent Blanc is optimistic about the goalkeeper’s return though, telling InfoSport+ that "there is no particular concern about Trapp” and that staff “will check on the status of his thigh tomorrow” before proclaiming that “he is already being cared for”.
Attentions fully on the Champions League for PSG
The Parisian outfit drew 2-2 with Manchester City last Wednesday with Zlatan Ibrahimovic somewhat fortuitously cancelling out Kevin De Bruyne's opener before Adrien Rabiot put the hosts ahead. A deflected Fernandinho strike, however, ensured that the Premier League side harbours a slight advantage when PSG visit in a number of days.
Although Paris Saint-Germain have a more than adequate and a less error-prone replacement in the form of Sirigu, Trapp’s potential absence exacerbates an already dire situation ahead of the City fixture. Starters David Luiz and Blaise Matuidi are suspended while Marco Verratti and Javier Pastore are both doubts due to injury.
Blanc subsequently proceeded to rotate his starting XI for the Guingamp meeting with a fourth-consecutive Ligue 1 title already secured. The Frenchman made nine changes to his team, fielding the capital club’s youngest side since the 1990-91 campaign, with attentions very much on advancing further in Europe’s elite competition.
A Lucas Moura brace in the second half sealed all three points in spite of the changes, with the French boss expressing his satisfaction after the performance.
“I am satisfied with their performance” said the former Manchester United defender. He went on to say that the players representing Paris Saint-Germain owe it to themselves to be “irreproachable” before stating that “it is always good to win, for the morale and for the players too."
“It is a good thing for them to gain some confidence and get some playing time, because Tuesday is going to be a big match.” concluded Blanc.