Friday, May 18th, 2012
Rennes v Atletico Madrid
Atleti look to put the disappointment of a 5-0 drubbing at Barcelona last weekend behind them as they face another tricky, if not so daunting, trip to Rennes for their second outing of the Europa League group stage.
The French side currently sit fifth in Ligue 1 with only one defeat in the league so far. They also took the lead away at Udinese in matchday one before eventually going down 2-1. Gregorio Mazano will be without full-backs Silvio and Antonio Lopez as well as Koke but is expected to name his strongest line-up with Radamel Falcao, Arda Turan, Jose Antonio Reyes and Diego all featuring.
Rennes have thier own host of injury problems with Yacime Brahimi, John Boye, Onyekachi Apam, Kader Mangane and Abdoulrazak Boukari all out.
STAT: Rennes beat Osasuna 3-1 on aggregate in their only previous meeting with Spanish opposition in 2005
Athletic Bilbao v Paris Saint-Germain
The murmurs of discontent are building at the San Mamés with Marcelo Bielsa knowing the only way to eradicate them will be by winning games, and that’s precisely what the Argentinean will be looking to do on Thursday evening when PSG visit. Bielsa’s solitary win so far was in this very competition against Slovan Bratislava inSlovakia, in what came as a welcome distraction from the sub-par performances domestically. Athletic have been beaten by Espanyol, Real Betis and Málaga so far this season and things have to change quickly before the situation worsens. Players have been shuffled into positions out of sync, and the team on the whole has failed to cohesively operate, but another game gives another chance to develop together.
Ander Herrera is the only absence, and he was back training this week albeit on a light schedule.
PSG meanwhile are top of the French league following their summer recruitment drive, and are unbeaten in eight games. An opening day defeat is a thing of the past now, as they most recently won Montpellier at the weekend 3-0 and won their opening Europa League game against Salzburg via the same score line. Much of the game will focus on the impression Javier Pastore who has started his career in France in blistering fashion, already weighing in with goals and assists as Antoine Koumbare’s side brushed aside those in their way.
Jérémy Ménez, Kévin Gameiro, Mamadou Sakho, Milan Biševac and Guillaume Hoarau are all ruled out, but Christophe Jallet and Luciano Monzon return in defence.
FACT: Athletic Bilbao haven’t won in their last three European games at the San Mamés.
Tags: Athletic Bilbao, Bielsa, Ligue 1, Muniain, Pastore, PSG, Rennes
