Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola hopes Kylian Mbappe, star of Paris Saint-Germain, will participate in the two teams' meeting on Tuesday, despite doubts surrounding his participation due to injury.
Saint-Germain will visit City in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday, after losing 1-2 in the first leg.
"Certainly I am looking forward to Mbappe's participation against us, and I think he will participate," Guardiola told a news conference on Monday.
"For the sake of football in general and for the game in particular, I hope he can play in front of us," he added.
There are doubts about Mbappe's participation in the Champions League against City on Tuesday, despite his name being on the list.
The Le Parisien newspaper report on Monday indicated that Mbappe may not be able to participate in the meeting due to an injury to the calf muscle, after he was seen limping while entering the airport before traveling to England, raising doubts about the possibility of joining the meeting.
He continued, "Mbappe and Neymar played really well in the first leg. Their performance in the first half was exceptional. Mbappe's danger appeared, but in the second half we were better as a team."
And he added, "They judge Mbappe and Neymar harshly because Saint-Germain lost the match, and if the team wins, they will say they played well, I think they played well."
Le Parisien's report said the French star would undergo a final medical test hours before kick-off.
Pep believes that "the Champions League semi-final second leg is always the most difficult match, more than the final."
"We control our emotions to do exactly what we need to do. We are trying to convince the players that this is the best way to win this match," he added.
And he continued, "We cannot play the 90 minutes as we played in the second half of the first leg. I think this will not happen. The second leg will be very difficult."
"The entire team is ready to play against Saint Germain, with the exception of Eric Garcia, who is absent due to illness," the Spanish coach said.
The Source: filgoal