Paris Saint-Germain held an inter-squad friendly match to warm up for next weekend’s Champions League showdown with Arsenal.
A week ahead of the final in Budapest, head coach Luis Enrique organised a special training match on Saturday, separating the squad into two starting XIs with 1,000 fans watching on at the club’s training base in Poissy.
Described as Le Parisien as a ‘full-scale rehearsal’ for their meeting with the Gunners, the two teams played for just over in an hour in a high-intensity session.
Enrique opted to separate what would generally be considered his first choice team with the likes of Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves and Desire Doue facing off against Marquinhos, Vitinha and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
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There were two notable omissions however with Ousmane Dembele and Achraf Hakimi missing the game.
The two instead trained individually and while their absences were not a cause for concern, Enrique and his staff decided to take no risks.
Dembele came off inside half an hour in PSG’s final league match of the season against Paris FC with a muscle issue in his right calf. Speaking at a media day this week ahead of the Champions League final, he insisted it was just a ‘slight scare’ and has ‘no doubts’ he will be fit to face Arsenal.
‘I’m doing very well. I had a slight scare against Paris FC, but I’m fine and I’ll be ready for the final,’ he told RMC Sport.
‘Will I be 100% for the final? Yes, yes, I think so, yes, I’ll be ready. I have no doubt about it, I hope to be on the pitch on May 30th.’
Hakimi has not played since suffering a muscle injury in the semi-final first leg against Bayern Munich but it is hoped he will also be available.
Nuno Mendes and Willian Pacho also missed the game against Paris FC but both were present in the training match.
Arsenal meanwhile have one more game of their Premier League campaign remaining against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Arteta could use it as a chance to rest some players, as could Oliver Glasner with Palace preparing for their own European final against Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday.