Marco Verratti, 4 youngsters make squad to face Auxerre
PSG released the official matchday squad for their Sunday, May 21st trip to Auxerre as part of MD36 of the Ligue 1 season. Marco Verratti, along with four underage players, finally made the cut and will be available for head coach Christophe Galtier to use if he wants to.
Paris Saint-Germain published a list of 20 players ahead of their trip to face relegation-threatened Auxerre on Sunday late Saturday.
After missing a couple of collective training sessions but already exercising on his own last Friday, Marco Verratti is present while Galtier only selected four youngsters leaving the other options available for the U19 side which will be playing for their age-tier championship (quarter-finals) this weekend.
PSG will once again call up three goalkeepers because of the multiple injuries currently impacting many players of the first-team squad. Verratti is present in the Parisian group, although nothing has been confirmed yet when it comes to his true fitness level and actual availability for Sunday's matchup.
Alexandre Letellier and Timothee Pembele are returning to a matchday squad after missing prior games for different reasons. The former had been absent without any given reason, while the latter is coming off recovering from different physical maladies of late.
Achraf Hakimi will miss this game and the clash against Strasbourg next week while enduring a two-game suspension following his sending-off last weekend against Ajaccio. Youngster Warren Zaire-Emery is expected to play in Hakimi's natural right-back position, even though it's not the preferred and most optimal role WZE can take on.
Vimoj Muntu Wa Mungu, Noha Lemina, and Ilyes Housni have been left off the squad
Most of the players missing from the matchday squad-- namely Vimoj Muntu Wa Mungu, Noha Lemina, and Ilyes Housni--were left off it by Galtier and instead offered to U19 coach Zoumana Camara for the underage squad game on Sunday as part of their championship's quarter-final matchup.
Warren Zaire-Emery will be joined by El Chadaille Bitshiabu, Ismael Gharbi, and Serif Nhaga when it comes to youngsters making it to the first-time squad to face Auxerre aiming at clinching the Ligue 1 title with two games to spare.
If PSG want to be crowned champion this weekend they will need to earn more points than Lens, which means that a victory by the latter would inevitably delay the clinching of PSG's 11th Ligue 1 title. Lens' game kicks-off at four hours before PSG's, so the Parisians will start their match knowing whether or not they can be crowned against Auxerre.