Marquinhos limps off against Bayern as PSG's injury issues mount

By Sports Desk March 08, 2023

Paris Saint-Germain were dealt another injury blow as captain Marquinhos limped off against Bayern Munich in Wednesday's Champions League last-16 clash.

Christophe Galtier's side have already lost Neymar for the rest of the season due to an ankle injury which requires surgery to repair ligament damage.

And Marquinhos added to those injury woes as he left the Allianz Arena pitch with an apparent hip injury despite not coming into contact with the ball or another player as his side defended a Bayern free-kick in the first half.

Nordi Mukiele replaced the Brazil international in the 36th minute as the Ligue 1 champions aimed to overturn a one-goal deficit from the Parc des Princes first leg in Europe's top club competition.

While the extent of the injury remains unclear, Galtier will hope to have key defender and skipper Marquinhos back soon as PSG aim to defend their Ligue 1 crown, sitting eight points clear at the summit.

Related items

  • Haaland pinpoints collective Man City quality after four-goal blitz of Wolves Haaland pinpoints collective Man City quality after four-goal blitz of Wolves

    Erling Haaland blasted four goals past Wolves in a one-man Premier League show but the Manchester City forward says it would not be possible without manager Pep Guardiola or his team-mates.

    The City talisman took his top-flight tally to 25 for this season, moving five clear of his nearest challenger in the Premier League Golden Boot race, after Saturday's 5-1 thrashing of Wolves.

    Haaland was twice on target from the penalty spot as part of his first-half hat-trick, adding another after the interval with an arrowed strike into the top-left corner.

    It was the first time the Norway star has managed four goals in one Premier League game, with his quartet of strikes coming in 54 minutes. Only Gabriel Jesus has scored as many earlier in one match, doing so in 53 minutes against Watford in April 2022.

    Haaland also became the third player to score multiple first-half hat-tricks in Premier League history (also against Nottingham Forest last season), along with Andrew Cole and Michael Owen (two each).

    Yet the superstar attacker says his exploits would not be possible without his City colleagues or boss Guardiola.

    "I've got a not-too-bad manager who pushes me and look at the players around me," Haaland told Sky Sports when asked about his motivations.

    "Without them, it would not be possible. Look ahead, look to next one – four finals left for the season. We're going to go for it and focus on Fulham."

    It was Haaland's sixth Premier League hat-trick for City, with only seven players netting more in the competition’s history. All six of those trebles have been at the Etihad, only three have more at a single venue.

    Haaland's second strike came from a towering header following Rodri's right-wing centre, which he suggested would delight his father Alfie.

    "That's a beautiful goal," the Norwegian said of his headed finish. "My father is going to be happy with that one.

    "A nice celebration, I enjoyed that one. I'm scoring more headers, I try to develop and keep going."

    City are within a point of Premier League leaders Arsenal and Guardiola's side still have a game in hand against Tottenham on May 14.

    Despite the thrashing of Wolves, Haaland insists Guardiola remains intent on winning the remaining games, rather than calculating the probabilities needed on goal difference.

    "First of all it's about winning the games but, of course, you want to have the best possible goal difference," he added. "Let's not think about that. Think about Fulham."

  • Mallorca 0-1 Atletico Madrid: Early Riquelme strike earns narrow win Mallorca 0-1 Atletico Madrid: Early Riquelme strike earns narrow win

    Atletico Madrid closed in on a Champions League spot after winger Rodrigo Riquelme's early strike earned his side a 1-0 win at Mallorca in LaLiga on Saturday.

    With four games remaining, Diego Simeone's side are fourth in the standings on 67 points, six ahead of fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao, who beat Getafe on Friday.

    There was an end-of-the-season feel at a half-empty Son Moix stadium with both teams lacking urgency in a lacklustre match, with the only standout moment being Riquelme's fine individual effort in the fifth minute, which ultimately secured the win for the visitors.

    Riquelme pounced on a loose ball in the edge of the box and cleared two defenders before unleashing an unstoppable strike just inside the right post.

    Data Debrief: Mallorca's blunt attack easily stopped

    Mallorca mustered an expected goals of just 0.24 in this game, and they have now failed to score in 15 of their 34 league games this season. Only Cadiz (17) have failed to score more often in the competition this term.

    That is despite the hosts having attempted 526 passes in this game, their highest total in a single league match this season.

  • Sassuolo 1-0 Inter: Serie A champions suffer surprise defeat Sassuolo 1-0 Inter: Serie A champions suffer surprise defeat

    Inter suffered only their second defeat in Serie A this season as a first-half goal by Armand Lauriente gave relegation-threatened Sassuolo a crucial 1-0 victory.

    Sassuolo have a unique hold over Simone Inzaghi's side this season, as the only team to beat Inter in the league, having secured a 2-1 victory in the reverse fixture in September.

    The result was a big boost in Sassuolo's battle against relegation, as they sit second from bottom on 29 points, with only three points between them and Cagliari in 14th place.

    Lauriente got the only goal of the match after 20 minutes when Josh Doig managed to wrestle the ball back from Denzel Dumfries near the corner flag and pulled it back, with Sassuolo's matchwinner on hand to slot into the net from close range.

    Data Debrief: Long time coming

    This was the first time Inter have lost a league match against a team in the bottom two of the standings since way back in November 2014. On that occasion, they went down 2-0 to Parma.

    Lauriente, meanwhile, has scored four Serie A goals since the beginning of April, a joint-record in the period in the top-flight (level with Hakan Calhanoglu).

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.