the times | Wednesday December 2 2020 1GM 65
Champions LeagueSport
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has told Edinson
Cavani to put his troubles to one side
and concentrate on defeating Paris
Saint-Germain, the club that discarded
him, in the Champions League tonight.
Cavani, the Manchester United
forward, is facing a three-match
domestic ban for using the word
“negrito”, which translates as “little
black”, in an Instagram post to a friend.
Solskjaer said that the Uruguay
international was “deeply sorry” for
using the word, which is sometimes
PSG came to an end in June. The
forward was unhappy at being released
by the club where he tops the scoring
charts with 200 goals, and he clashed
with Neymar on a number of occasions
in his final season.
Cavani joined United on a free
transfer partly because he knew thatHudson-Odoi must prove he
merits start, says Lampard
Gary Jacob
Frank Lampard has told Callum
Hudson-Odoi to prove his worth if he
wants to be regularly included in
Chelsea’s match-day plans.
The 20-year-old winger was dropped
from the squad for the 0-0 draw with
Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday having
started and scored against Rennes five
days earlier in the Champions League.
Hudson-Odoi has started only one of
his five league matches this season,
amassing only 169 minutes in the first
ten games. He is expected to start in the
game away to Seville tonight when
Chelsea, who have qualified for the
round of 16, can seal top spot in group E.
“In the short term he [Hudson-Odoi]
might not like it, I get that, but the other
option is I look around and who else do
I take out of the squad?” Lampard said.
“Another day it is someone else. I said
it to the players at the start of the
season, having a big squad has to be a
strength and not a weakness.”
The Chelsea head coach said that he
was not concerned about the risk of
encouraging Bayern Munich, who tried
to sign the winger on loan in January, to
renew their interest in Hudson-Odoi.
“I have to leave out maybe four or five
players from the squad for every game,”
Lampard said.
“If I went through the permutations
of all of them and the risk of it I would
not make a decision. I would not be able
to do the job.”
Hudson-Odoi has had a difficult time
since suffering an achilles injury in
April last year. His chances of starting
more regularly have also been affectedby the signings of Timo Werner, Hakim
Ziyech and Kai Havertz.
“It is up to him to show that he
deserves to start,” Lampard said. “That
is the reality of playing for Chelsea.”Cavani out to settle score with PSG
used in an affectionate manner in
South America between friends, and
added there was “no malicious intent at
all” from the 33-year-old.
Solskjaer supports an idea proposed
by Gary Neville, the former United
captain, to provide mandatory diversity
training for overseas players.
“I think [players should be educated
on the matter],” the United manager
said. “I saw Gary said that all players
coming from different cultures should
be educated and I’m sure Edinson has
learnt the hard way. It was just an
affectionate greeting to a friend of his.He has been asked by the FA to explain
so he’ll co-operate with them and we’ll
support him. It might affect him but
he’ll just have to put it to one side when
the game’s on.”
Solskjaer’s players should require no
extra motivation tonight. They know
that a point will send them through to
the knockout stages with one game to
spare and victory will guarantee them
top spot unless RB Leipzig beat Istanbul
Basaksehir tonight and then hammer
United by six clear goals next week.
Cavani will have an extra spring in his
step, given how his seven-year spell atthey had drawn PSG in the group stages
and he was determined to prove a point
against last year’s finalists, who are in
danger of missing out on the top two
and a place in the round of 16 if they lose
at Old Trafford.
“It’s special for him to play against his
old club where he’s the top scorer,”
Solskjaer said. “I know that’ll give
him energy. He is so professional,
experienced, and he will work on his
mindset to be ready.”
Solskjaer is delighted with the form
of Cavani, who has scored three goals in
his past four appearances, including a
brace in the 3-2 win away to
Southampton on Sunday, after which
he posted his Instagram message.
“I called him a Viking before. We
never give in, us Vikings,” Solskjaer, the
Norwegian, said. “We have got the right
attitude, the right mentality.”
Solskjaer has only one complaint
about the forward. “Everything about
him impresses me apart from his
parking,” he said with a smile. “He parks
too closely to some of the players and
the coaching staff.”
David De Gea has recovered from
the knee injury he suffered against
Southampton. Anthony Martial and
Paul Pogba are also available again.
PSG are top of Ligue 1 but a series of
uninspiring performances — and a
poor Champions League campaign,
which began with a 2-1 defeat by United
in Paris — has led to questions about
the future of Thomas Tuchel, the man-
ager, whose contract expires in June.
Tuchel said Kylian Mbappé’s year-
long Champions League goal drought
had contributed to his team’s poor
group stage. “It’s a great opportunity for
him to bring that period to an end
because it is far too long for us,” he said.Paul Hirst
Champions League, group H
Kick-off 8pm TV BT Sport 2
Radio 5 Live Referee D Orsato (Italy)Man United v PSG
Manchester United (probable; 4-2-3-1)
PSG (probable; 4-3-3)
D De GeaK NavasA Wan-BissakaV LindelofH MaguireA TellesL KurzawaP KimpembeMarquinhosA FlorenziRafinha M VerrattiA HerreraNeymar K MbappéA Di MaríaFred N MaticB Fernandes A MartialE CavaniM RashfordGroup H
PW D L F APts
Man Utd............430 11249
PSG.....................42 12546
RB Leipzig........ 4202476
I Basaksehir....4 103393Champions League, group E
Kick-off 8pm TV BT Sport 3
Radio talkSPORT
Referee A Dias (Portugal)Seville v Chelsea
Seville (probable; 4-3-3)
Chelsea (probable; 4-3-3)
T VaclikÉ MendyJ Navas J Koundé D Carlos S EscuderoB ChilwellA Rudiger K ZoumaC AzpilicuetaM Mount Jorginho M KovacicH Ziyech O GiroudC Hudson-OdoiI Rakitic Fernando J JordánMunir L De Jong L OcamposGroup E
PW D L F APts
Chelsea (Q)......43 109 110
Seville (Q)........43 106310
Krasnodar........40 1 3 410 1
Rennes..............40 1 3 2 7 1