Kylian Mbappe has been named among the substitutes for Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League last 16, first leg against Bayern Munich on Tuesday, having initially been ruled out of the game through injury.
PSG said Mbappe would be sidelined for three weeks after he suffered the thigh injury in a league game against Montpellier on February 1, but he returned to training earlier than expected on Sunday and was named in a 22-man squad for the match.
That raised hopes among PSG fans that he might be able to start against the German champions, but he is instead included among 11 substitutes, with Lionel Messi and Neymar set to play together up front in a 4-4-2 formation.
Carlos Soler starts on the left wing, while the 16-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery starts a Champions League game for the first time.
Mbappe is PSG’s top scorer this season with 25 goals and netted seven times in six games during the group stage.
Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann, who must do without Sadio Mane as he recovers from injury, makes two changes to the team that started in the weekend Bundesliga win against Bochum.
Serge Gnabry and Thomas Mueller drop to the bench as Joshua Kimmich and France international Kingsley Coman come in.
Coman scored the winner when Bayern beat PSG 1-0 in the 2020 Champions League final in Lisbon.
The second leg of this tie will be played in Munich on March 8.
Starting line-ups:
Paris Saint-Germain (4-4-2)
Gianluigi Donnarumma; Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos (capt), Sergio Ramos, Nuno Mendes; Warren Zaire-Emery, Marco Verratti, Danilo Pereira, Carlos Soler; Lionel Messi, Neymar
Coach: Christophe Galtier (FRA)
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1)
Yann Sommer; Benjamin Pavard, Dayot Upamecano, Matthijs de Ligt, Joao Cancelo; Joshua Kimmich (capt), Leon Goretzka; Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala, Kingsley Coman; Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
Coach: Julian Nagelsmann (GER)
Referee: Michael Oliver (ENG)
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