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Home / Sport / Football

PSG on the verge of sealing qualification

AP
26 Nov, 2013 12:55 PM4 mins to read

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PARIS (AP) With Paris Saint-Germain needing only one point against visiting Olympiakos, the race is on for second place in Group C of the Champions League.

Olympiakos has the edge, leading Benfica by three points. But the Portuguese side expects to earn some points at last-place Anderlecht.

Here are 5 things to know ahead of Wednesday's matches:

___

ZLATAN'S REVENGE

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Eliminated from the World Cup, Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be eager to take his frustration out on Olympiakos.

Sweden was knocked out of the World Cup playoffs by Portugal last week. The 32-year-old Ibrahimovic may never get to play in the tournament again and coach Laurent Blanc thinks that will give him extra motivation to succeed for PSG.

"It was a big setback for him. He must be disappointed," Blanc said. "He needs to be positive and make sure he reaches his objectives at club level, which are very high. If he does that it will certainly help to ease the pain of not playing in the World Cup in Brazil."

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Ibrahimovic has scored 17 goals in his past 11 games for club and country, and scored with an expertly-taken first-time strike against Reims last Saturday.

He has scored in both Champions League home games so far, getting two against Benfica and one against Anderlecht.

___

UNBEATEN RUNS

Olympiakos has lost only once this season 4-1 at home to PSG in their group opener and since then is unbeaten in 13, winning 11 and drawing two.

However, that is hardly going to bother PSG, which is on a 34-match unbeaten run three short of equaling a club record from the 1993-94 season and the French side is unbeaten at home in European competition since losing 4-2 to Hapoel Tel Aviv in November 2006.

___

CONFIDENT JIMENEZ

Olympiakos goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez is brave enough to predict that his side can end PSG's long unbeaten run even though he let in four goals last time they met.

"We've shown that we can take on the big clubs and our intention is to make life difficult for them," the Spaniard said. "We'll go for three points. Why not?"

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The 27-year-old Jimenez is in good form, reviving the club's stagnating European campaign when he saved nine shots on goal in a 1-0 win against Benfica three weeks ago.

They are also buoyed by striker Kostas Mitroglou, who leads the league goal with 14 goals, and scored three times for Greece in recent World Cup playoff matches against Romania to send his country to Brazil.

___

UNDER PRESSURE

Anderlecht coach John van den Brom is under pressure after an unexpected loss to Sporting Charleroi last weekend.

It was the fifth league defeat of a poor season so far and the club is languishing in fifth place.

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After an equally difficult start to the Champions League, Anderlecht had gained its first point with an unexpected 1-1 draw in Paris against PSG two weeks ago, but is facing high pressure again.

To make matters worse, highly-rated playmaker Matias Suarez is out for the rest of the season, midfielder Sacha Kljestan who impressed in the draw against PSG before getting sent off late on is suspended for the Benfica match.

___

CARDOZO BLOW

Benfica will again be without top scorer Oscar Cardozo as it tries to keep alive its hopes of advancing.

The Paraguay forward, who has racked up nine goals in 12 games this season, remains sidelined with a recurring back injury. He has not played since netting a hat trick against Sporting Lisbon on Nov. 9.

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The victory over Anderlecht in Lisbon in the opening round was Benfica's only win so far in the tournament. A point in Brussels would guarantee Benfica at least third place and a berth in the Europa League.

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