With Manchester City and Paris Saint German fighting for their place in a Champions League semi-final tonight, we have seen players disappoint and prosper from both sides this season.
Manchester City’s form has been diseased with inconsistency whereas their French foes went unbeaten in their first 28 league appearances of the season, winning the Ligue 1 title on the 13th of March with two months of fixtures left to play.
However, Paris Saint German have developed a pattern in recent years of being knocked out at the Champions League quarter-final stages, with Chelsea beating them once and Barcelona twice in the last three years alone.
That will give City fans a boost as it will be playing in the back of the Paris players’ minds.
City themselves have never made it to this stage of the competition before and are looking to record another milestone in the clubs history by proceeding to the semis.
Without further ado, the punters here in the Transfer Tavern give you the best combined PSG/City XI based on this season’s performances…..
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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE BEST COMBINED XI!
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Goalkeeper – Kevin Trapp
Trapp has only missed one league fixture in his first season at PSG and has pipped Joe Hart to the position of goalkeeper.
Hart who is an experienced international has been noticeably average this season so Trapp gets the pick after already winning a league title in his first season, registering 41 appearances for the club and becoming Blanc’s favoured keeper over veteran Salvatore Sirigu.
There’s not much in it between Hart and Trapp but the German has shown consistency to Hart’s sub-par performances and the Englishman has a lot to prove if he is to stay number one under Pep’s Reign.
Left-Back – Aleksander Kolarov
Maxwell has been good for PSG this year but Aleksander Kolarov gets the pick.
He is in the top five players in the Premier League for crossing the ball with his fierce whip and he can strike a free-kick as good as any.
The Serb produced a thunderbolt against Bournemouth two weeks ago to score his third goal of the season.
At 30 years of age, Kolarov shows pace to get beyond the winger in front of him and Pellegrini has used him 35 times this season.
Centre Back – Vincent Kompany
Without Kompany, the Manchester City backline is often in disarray and City have struggled as the Belgian continues to fight niggling injuries throughout this season.
By December, City had played 16 games, eight with and without Kompany.
In the eight games he played, they conceded one goal and registered seven clean sheets.
Without him, they let in 16 goals and managed one clean sheet. The stats don’t lie.
Centre Back – Thiago Silva
Thiago Silva has made 37 appearances for Paris this season and is second to none when it comes to reading the game in front of him.
Silva was an easy pick with City’s other centre-halves under scrutiny and David Luiz ever-susceptible to mistakes.
Silva is a huge factor in PSG’s impressive defensive league record.
Right-Back – Serge Aurier
Aurier was suspended in February for comments made towards Angel Di Maria and manager Laurent Blanc.
However, the Ivorian has forced his way into the team recording 30 appearances and giving Gregory Van Der Wiel a backseat for the majority of the season; he’s got three goals and three assists in all competitions.
At 23 years old, Aurier may need to learn a few things about club conduct but, if it wasn’t for the destructive duo in Di Maria and Ibrahimovic, the youngster would be in the mix for club player of the season.
Special mention goes to Bacary Sagna who’s had a strong season in a poor City defence.
Winger – Angel Di Maria
A few people had written Di Maria off after his dire season at Manchester United, but PSG took the punt on the out- of-favour Argentine with a deal reportedly around £45million last summer.
The winger has repaid his club with 14 goal and 13 assists in 38 appearances in his maiden season. A stunning transformation and he slots into this side with ease.
Centre-Midfield – David Silva
David Silva just about gets the nod over Blaise Matuidi who’s been excellent for PSG this season.
Silva has had his critics this season, but despite being injured and only playing 27 Premier League and Champions League games, he’s registered four goals and club high 11 assists for the Citizens this year.
When Silva isn’t playing his best, there’s always a spark of creativity waiting to be unleashed and the little magician can be the decider. Sergio Aguero in particular thrives off Silva’s influence and City’s final third play often looks mundane without him.
Centre Midfield – Adrien Rabiot
Yaya Toure misses out due to his unwillingness to track back and help his team.
Fernando has a limited skill set and Fernandinho hasn’t produced anywhere near what he showcased in City’s first title winning season.
Marco Verratti is injured ahead of the City tie and has been for much of season; Adrien Rabiot is the man who has taken his place and he has shone.
The 21-year-old has made 32 league appearances this season and adding to his defensive characteristics, he has scored five goals in all competitions. He’s one for the future, but if this XI was based on last season’s performances, Verratti would cement this position.
Winger – Kevin De Bruyne
City’s form dipped heavily when De Bruyne was sidelined for over a month.
The winger has scored 13 goals and notched a further nine assists in his breakthrough season at Manchester City becoming one of the first names on the team sheet.
After making the move from Wolfsburg, it can take time to slot into a top side with competition for places but De Bruyne has hit the ground running.
Striker – Zlatan Ibrahimovic
What more can be said about the bombastic, egotistical Zlatan Ibrahimovic that hasn’t already been said?
The Swede has scored an incredible 39 goals in all competitions, 35 of them coming in the league and the Champions League.
PSG’s talisman is out on contract in the summer and has suggested a move to the Premier League. They will find it hard to replace the goals he’s scored for them in big games such as these.
Striker – Sergio Aguero
Cavani misses out because even though Aguero may not have been at his best recently, he’s scored 23 goals in 37 appearances for City this season and his sensational goal record for the Sky Blues continues.
Aguero is a game changer, creating his own chances out of nothing and he was the Premier League’s top goal scorer last year.
A class act, Aguero picks himself for the side.
