To blow one of its new major elements. And give a little physical density to his midfield. Christophe Galtier has therefore decided to kill two birds with one stone this Sunday, September 18 (8:45 p.m.) in Lyon. After having made the choice to establish Vitinha at the start of the nine matches that the latter had been able to play since the start of the season (he was suspended against Monaco), the PSG coach has, this time, taken the option of leave his Portuguese midfielder on the bench.
To team up with the essential Verratti in the midfield, Galtier has decided to establish Fabian Ruiz for the first since his arrival at PSG. Arrived late, the Spanish midfielder from Naples had, for the time being, only been able to taste Ligue 1 during the last 28 minutes of the match against Brest, won (1-0) on September 10. After the sixteen minutes played Wednesday evening in the Champions League during the success gleaned on the lawn of Maccabi Haifa (0-3), Ruiz will therefore start his first match in his new colors.
This is the only surprise in the starting lineup that Christophe Galtier has put on paper to challenge an Olympique Lyonnais remaining on two losses in a row. In front of Gianluigi Donnarumma, the defense will be, like Wednesday in Israel, composed of the triplet Ramos – Marquinhos – Danilo, the latter substitute Presnel Kimpembe, injured.
While Nuno Mendes is again aligned in a left piston role, Achraf Hakimi finds, as was predictable, the right lane, instead of Nordi Mukiele. In the center, the Verratti – Ruiz pair will therefore be observed for their great premiere, in particular in their ability to feed the unbeatable Messi, Neymar and Mbappé, authors of a goal each four days ago in Haifa.