Verratti and Pastore to miss Man City second leg, confirms Blanc

The coach has revealed that the two midfielders will be absent at the Etihad Stadium, leaving him with a headache in the centre of the park given Blaise Matuidi is banned
Paris Saint-Germain have been dealt a further blow in their quest to progress to the Champions League semi-finals, with Marco Verratti and Javier Pastore both ruled out of the second leg of their tie against Manchester City.

Despite goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Adrien Rabiot, PSG were held to a 2-2 draw by the Premier League side at Parc des Princes and saw David Luiz and Blaise Matuidi both pick up bookings that will see them suspended for the return match.

But Blanc revealed in his post-match press conference some more disturbing news for the French champions, as he will also be without two more key midfielders.
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“Verratti and Pastore will be absent for the second leg. They will not play,” he told the press.

PSG are set to be seriously short-handed in midfield as a result, which could prompt Angel Di Maria to play in a deeper role or perhaps even hand former Tottenham man Benjamin Stambouli a berth alongside Thiago Motta and Rabiot.

First, they will negotiate a Ligue 1 match in Guingamp on Saturday.