Paris Saint-Germain vs Apoel: The Parisians look to secure their spot in round of 16

Paris Saint-Germain take on Cyrpus side Apoel on the fourth match day of the Champions League at the Parc Des Princes on Wednesday evening.

Les Parisians who are currently preparing for a ‘top of the league’ clash this weekend against Marseille, have the chance to secure their place in the round of 16 with a win against Apoel, along with hopes of Ajax losing to Barcelona.

Laurent Blanc’s men head into the match with an abundance of hope after continuing their undefeated record this past weekend with a win against Lorient giving them their fourth consecutive victory, a record much better than their countless  draws in the start of the season.

PSG will be without striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has been absent since late September after suffering a heel injury. However, Laurent Blanc is adamant that the Swedish striker should be available in about 10 days.

In other injury news, David Luiz, who was absent for the Lorient clash last weekend will be available for the Parisians after suffering  a small knock.

In the last meeting between the two sides, PSG clinched the winner after a late, 87 minute goal from Edison Cavani, granting the Parisians the victory. With Paris’ winning ways, it shouldn’t be difficult to get a result against Apoel this time, however it will be important for them to clinch a goal in the first half.

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Late winners are fairly common, but with PSG they always seem to be on the roll when they snatch early goals, such as in the match with Barcelona, where they arguably gave one of their best performances of the season against the best team they have played.

Parisian goal keeper, Salvatore Sirigu spoke with PSG.fr, about the difficulties that Apoel will present. “Apoel are a very difficult team to play against as they are very aggressive – in the right sense of the word.”

“They always have some very good individuals. They play very defensively  and it is not easy finding space between the lines, they are a very tricky opponent to play against.”

PSG are a strong team both offensively and defensively, with their strengths obviously being geared more towards the offense. But in reality, based on their last performance against Apoel, they should have an idea of what they need to do in order to win and that is attack.

Apoel are the under dogs but that does not mean that they do not have what it takes to defeat or draw against PSG. But with doing so, it will be a lot of work considering the fact that they will be missing players such as  Marios Antoniades, Constantinos Charalambides and Tiago Gomes among others who are doubtful.

Predicted score

PSG 2-0 Apoel

There is no reason that PSG should not win this match, it is not fair to say that it should be an easy win, but it shouldn’t be difficult if they play like themselves. Like any team, Apoel have a chance but PSG have an unbeaten home record of 30 games in European competitions. Fate is on the Parisians side and they have every reason to win.