After the win against Chelsea in West London, PSG have been handed a slight bump back to earth with an injury to a crucial first-team player from the game.
Last night, PSG sent English side Chelsea packing in the UEFA Champions League round of 16, with a 3-0 win on the night and a resounding 8-2 win over the two legs.
It was the perfect night. A clean sheet, three goals, a good collective performance, good individual performances, and no jeopardy at all, after one three-goal first-leg lead had been overturned earlier in the day with Sporting and Bodo/Glimt.
However, it was not all perfect for Luis Enrique's side. Indeed not, as forward Bradley Barcola was forced off with an injury just before the hour mark, as he was replaced by compatriot Desire Doue.
There was hope it would be nothing serious, but the news has turned out to be less than ideal. Earlier today, PSG confirmed that the 23-year-old will be out of action "for a few weeks".
Certainly not good news. The March international break comes at a very good time, meaning that, in an ideal world, he should only miss one or two games. It goes without saying that he will not be in the France squad for friendlies against Brazil and Colombia in the United States.
However, Barcola will certainly miss the game against Nice on Saturday night. If we take "a few" weeks to mean three weeks, he will also miss the game with Toulouse on the 3rd of April.
After that, it will be touch-and-go. The first leg of the quarter-final will be on the 7th of April, which will be one day away from three weeks. Under the threshold, but perhaps that game will be touch and go. Maybe he will be on the bench for that one, let's see.
It's true that PSG do have good depth, but you feel that a reason the players perform so well is that they know they have tough competition breathing down their neck. You hope that players like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will continue to perform in Barcola's absence.
In better news, there has been no update on Joao Neves. As the cliche goes, "no news is good news" so we can assume he is fine, and that he only went off because the game, and tie, was done.
So, not ideal news, but, well, it could certainly be worse, and as mentioned above, the international break certainly comes at a good time for Enrique. Let's hope we see Barcola back on the pitch as soon as possible.
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