Italy’s Gianluigi Donnarumma and Marco Verratti are in the starting XI for Paris Saint-Germain in tonight’s Champions League Round of 16 tie against Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid.
It kicks off at the Bernabeu at 20.00 GMT.
The first leg ended 1-0 thanks to a stoppage-time Kylian Mbappé solo effort that nutmegged the goalkeeper.
Away goals no longer count double in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League this season, so if the teams are level on aggregate, they will go to extra time or even penalties.
Donnarumma played in the first leg and was dropped at the weekend in Ligue 1, but once again Mauricio Pochettino has picked the Italy international rather than Keylor Navas to take the gloves in Europe.
Many had thought Navas would get the nod, as he is a former Real Madrid player here from 2014 to 2019, but Donnarumma in his debut Champions League campaign is kept in goal.
He is the second Azzurri star in the PSG line-up after midfielder Verratti, who out-shone Luka Modric in the first leg with his performance.
It also represents a return to Madrid for former Barcelona heroes Lionel Messi and Neymar, while Mbappé could join Real Madrid as a free agent in the summer.
Ancelotti could see his time at Real Madrid come to a premature end if he goes out of the Champions League at the Round of 16 stage, so the pressure is on the Italian tactician.
Casemiro and Ferland Mendy are out of action, with Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde not at 100 per cent either.
Real Madrid: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Nacho; Kroos, Valverde, Modric; Asensio, Benzema, Vinicius
PSG: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Nuno Mendes; Danilo, Paredes, Verratti; Mbappé, Messi, Neymar
🆙🚎 L’arrivée de nos parisiens au 𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚐𝚘 𝙱𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚎́𝚞#𝗥𝗠𝗣𝗦𝗚 pic.twitter.com/RrI5KtBgvc
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) March 9, 2022
Forza Hakimi, Donnarumma and Veratti. Sorry, Ancelotti. 🙂
Also, Icardi, Messi, Di Maria and Paredes because I’m Argentina fan too. 🙂