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Champions League

PSG take on Manchester City in 'El Cashico' quarter-final

A place in the last four of the Uefa Champions League is at stake when Paris Saint-Germain host Manchester City on Wednesday night at the Parc des Princes.

Laurent Blanc is trying to lead Paris Saint-Germain to their first Uefa Champions League trophy.
Laurent Blanc is trying to lead Paris Saint-Germain to their first Uefa Champions League trophy. Reuters/Charles Platiau
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The French champions boasting deep pockets from the Qatari Sports Investment group are the newly rich kids on the block and and eager to display their rising power and wealth.

City - backed by Sheikh Mansour of the Abu Dhabi royal family - have twice conquered England within the past five years and are also keen to define themselves on the European stage.

El Cashico

With money from Middle Eastern natural resources forming the hinterland to the quarter-final clash, it is little wonder that wags have dubbed it 'El Cashico'.

PSG have won the French title four years on the trot. Their latest domestic success was achieved with nearly a third of the season left. City are still in a race to secure one of the places for next season's Champions League.

Though they thrashed Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon, their Premier League form has been pitiful since it was announced in January that the Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola would replace Manuel Pellegrini at the start of the 2016/2017 season.

City's task recently has not been made easier with injuries to key personnel. Skipper Vincent Kompany will miss the tie. England international Raheem Sterling will also be absent. There have been some boosts though. Goalkeeper Joe Hart will start the match on Wednesday night. He hurt his calf while on England duty two weeks ago but has recovered to take over from Willy Caballero.

"Joe has worked over the last few days without any problems," said Pellegrini. "Of course there's always a risk when a player is coming back from injury. But we've made all the tests with Joe and he's passed them all. He won't have any problems to play."

Kevin de Bruyne is also likely to feature. City's 74 million euro record signing had been out since the end of January with a knee injury. He returned last Saturday in the 4-0 destruction of Bournemouth. The 24-year-old Belgium international scored and set up another goal in the victory.

"Kevin is an important player for us in terms of the mentality that he brings," added Pellegrini. "We're not going to Paris to draw 0-0. We will try and play the way we do in every competition. Kevin has goals in him and it will be good for the team to have him playing. We'll see though whether he can last 90 minutes."

Barring an act of nature, PSG's star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be on the field for the entire match. The 34-year-old Sweden international warmed up for Wednesday night's game with a hat trick on Saturday against Nice at the Parc des Princes.

"The PSG project started four years ago," said Ibrahimovic. "With all due respect to what happened before that, I think the club was born the day the Qataris took over. So it's a new project. What we've done in this time is amazing stuff. With time and what the Qataris are investing in PSG will bring no limits to PSG. Trust me, they will hunt this Champions League until they get it."

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