Amid Kylian Mbappe’s transfer fiasco, Paris Saint-Germain will continue their preparations for their 2023-24 campaign with a pre-season friendly against Cristiano Ronaldo's Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Nassr on Tuesday.
Of course, the talk surrounding Mbappe's future has once again hit the headlines at the weekend. The 24-year-old has entered the final season of his contract and doesn't wish to extend it further. It seems the Frenchman set his sights on joining Real Madrid for free in the summer of 2024, but the PSG hierarchy wants him to sign the extension or leave this summer.
Mbappe actually found the back of net after coming on as a late substitute in PSG's 2-0 friendly victory over Le Havre last Friday, but he was then excluded from the travelling party for the Japan tour.
PSG must now concentrate on their pre-season schedule, which includes games against Al-Nassr, Cerezo Osaka, Inter Milan, and Jeonbuk Motors as head coach Luis Enrique looks to prepare his players for their 2023-24 Ligue 1 opener against Lorient on August 12.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo became Saudi Arabian football's biggest acquisition earlier this year, but things have certainly changed as Saudi Pro League clubs are buying high-profile European stars with astonishing amounts of money going toward transfer fees and salaries, so we will see a big expanse of football in the Middle East.
Al-Nassr have also improved their squad drastically with several high-quality additions, but still, they are looking too frail up against any decent European team. They are coming into this game off the back of a disappointing Portugal tour, where they suffered 5-0 humiliation against Celta Vigo and then, Benfica thrashed them 4-1 in Portugal.
Here GOAL brings you everything you need to know about how to watch, including TV channel, streaming details and more.
PSG vs Al-Nassr kick-off time
| Date: | July 25, 2023 |
| Kick-off time: | 6:20 am EDT |
| Venue: | Yanmar Stadium Nagai |
The pre-season friendly between PSG and Al-Nassr will be played at Yanmar Stadium Nagai, Osaka, Japan, on Tuesday. Kick-off is at 6:20am EDT for fans in the US.
How to watch PSG vs Al-Nassr online - TV channels & live streams
The match will be streamed live via a subscription with PSG TV Premium. Match highlights and training videos will also be made available on the platform. Live updates will be available here on GOAL.
Team news & squads
PSG team news
A few weeks ago, PSG finally announced Luis Enrique as their new head coach. Still, there are some major issues in the camp. Kylian Mbappe has been left out of the PSG squad due to the transfer saga. As are the fringe cast Gini Wijnaldum, Julian Draxler, and Leandro Paredes, with the trio not part of the future plans of the new coach, and have been put up for sale this summer.
Lionel Messi has also left for Inter Miami. Still, they have bolstered their squad very well this summer. The summer arrivals, Manuel Ugarte, Lucas Hernandez, Hugo Ekitike, Kang-in Lee, Milan Skriniar, Marco Asensio and Cher Ndour will all likely get a run-out of some kind against Al Nassr.
PSG possible XI: Mouquet; Bernat, Pereira, Skriniar, Hakimi; Ugarte, Vitinha, Verratti; Asensio, Ekitike, Neymar
| Position | Players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers: | Navas, Donnarumma, Letellier, Mouquet |
| Defenders: | Hakimi, Kimpembe, Skriniar, Marquinhos, Bernat, Hernandez, Kurzawa, Nhaga |
| Midfielders: | E. Mbappe, Ugarte, Verratti, Ruiz, Asensio, Pereira, Vitinha, Sanches, Soler, Zaïre-Emery, Lemina |
| Forwards: | Neymar, Gharbi, Kang-In Lee, Ndour, Ekitike, Housni |
Al-Nassr team news
Saudi Pro League clubs are certainly transforming football by signing ready-made European stars for big-money and will continue to do that throughout the summer transfer window. Al-Nassr have big ambitions as well, and have brought the likes of Seko Fofana from Lens, and last season's Champions League finalist Marcelo Brozovic from Inter. New boss Luis Castro will also have latest signing Alex Telles at his disposal.
David Ospina is out injured at the moment, and will be replaced by Mouquet in between the sticks. Skipper Cristiano Ronaldo will spearhead the attack, flanked by speedy wingers Ayman Yahya and Abdulrahman Ghareeb.
Al Nassr possible XI: Al-Aqidi; Al-Ghanam, Al-Amri, Soberon, Lawgami; Al-Sulaiheem, Brozović, Al-Naji; Yahya, Ronaldo, Ghareeb
| Position | Players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers: | Al-Aqidi, Raed, Al-Bukhari |
| Defenders: | Al-Ghannam, Al-Amri, Al-Oujami, Konan, Madu, Boushal, Al-Fatil, Qassem |
| Midfielders: | Brozovic, Alkhaibari, Sahloui, Al-Sulaiheem, Al-Hassan, Al-Najei, Mukhtar |
| Forwards: | Ronaldo, Talisca, Al-Ghannam, Ghareeb, Mohammed, Meshari, Al-Nemer |
Head-to-Head Record
These two sides have never played against each other. This will be the first time they will face each other.