Paris Saint-Germain v APOEL: French champions seek qualification

Paris Saint-Germain will hope to head into their crucial clash with Marseille having reached the UEFA Champions League knockout stages.

Laurent Blanc’s men will progress from Group F if they beat APOEL at Parc des Princes on Wednesday and Ajax fail to defeat Barcelona.

Qualifying for the last 16 of Europe’s premier club competition would leave PSG in buoyant mood ahead of their top-of-the-table encounter with Ligue 1 leaders Marseille on Sunday.

After an indifferent start to the season, PSG have won four on the bounce in all competitions and are clear favourites for the APOEL game.

However, the French champions will not need reminding of how stern a task they face having struggled to a 1-0 win in Cyprus in the reverse fixture just over a fortnight ago.

A stubborn APOEL defence looked on course for a hard-fought point, only for Edinson Cavani to score an 87th-minute winner.

The Uruguayan is likely to once more head PSG’s attack in the absence of talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has been sidelined since late September with a foot injury.

Jean-Christophe Bahebeck is also chomping at the bit after the 21-year-old forward scored the winner in a come-from-behind 2-1 success at Lorient on Saturday.

APOEL have just one point to show from their three group-stage matches, and a loss in Paris would surely end any hope they have of securing an unlikely qualification.

Giorgos Donis’ men have proven stubborn in Europe, though, with their goal breached on just three occasions in those three outings.

Goals at the other end have proved hard to come by for APOEL too, and their solitary goal came in the 1-1 draw against Ajax on September 30.

As well as a lack of firepower, APOEL will also have to overcome PSG’s fantastic record on home soil in Europe.

A 3-2 victory over Barcelona on matchday two saw PSG stretch their unbeaten home streak in UEFA competition to 30 games – with their last defeat in the French capital coming to Hapoel Tel-Aviv some eight years ago.

APOEL also have several injury worries.

Constantinos Charalambides (foot), John Arne Riise (foot) and Kaka (groin) are all sidelined, while Tiago Gomes (calf) is a doubt.