Manchester United vs. PSG: It's time to release Choupo-Moting

There was some confusion when it was announced this summer that Paris Saint-Germain had signed the Cameroonian international Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

It was not so much the lack of quality of the young man of 29 years … it is enough, even if it is not necessarily the level of coherence which makes it possible to clbad it rightly in the elite same.

It just seemed a signature completely out of the left field, and goes against the club's transfer strategy (if that word can be used), which is basically motivated by the power of the stars.

Choupo-Moting leaves Stoke for Paris before changing his mind … pic.twitter.com/nYDafipDe7

– Goal (@goal) August 30, 2018

As an inexpensive acquisition, it was easier to understand, but it was still disappointing whether it was Neymar, Edinson Cavani or Kylian Mbappe.

In the meantime, he was perceived as a kind of mascot character: happy to be there, to get along with everyone and a little bit.

Until now, he has started three games for PSG in the league and scored a goal in his combined 377 minutes of play. However, it is in the Champions League, where he has been offered only four substitutions, he can start to redeem this week.

At Manchester United, he will face an opposition he knows well, having faced Stoke City in the 2017/2018 season. The Red Devils know him well: David De Gea was beaten twice by the former Mainz striker during a 2-2 draw in September 2017.

At that time, United had been perfect in the league, scoring 10 times without conceding anything, and looked ready for a good tilt for the title. Few things suggested the acrimony that would surface later with Jose Mourinho, or even the fact that Stoke would be relegated to the championship at the end of the season.

In a certain way, this splint, taken in the most predatory way possible, was the first perforation of the facade of United as happy campers under Mourinho, ready to deliver the usual success of the second season.

4 – Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting has been directly involved in 4 goals in his last 4 games in the Britannia LP (2 goals, 2 badists). Stoked. pic.twitter.com/ZDZo5Q8qnf

– OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 21, 2017

Who better then could deflate United once again, at a time when they fly under the leadership of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer?

In the draw for the round of 16, it seemed almost inevitable that Manchester United had any interest in giving a lesson, that it would prove the type of high-level European scalp that the French giants needed to pbad the round. Champions. League.

Since then, however, the fortunes of both teams have moved in quite opposite directions: while the English have recovered and are now seeking to exploit their full potential, PSG has suffered many injuries and is severely exhausted for the match of Tuesday. strong test.

Star striker Neymar broke his foot against Strasbourg in the Coupe de France in January. He should miss two months of play. To make matters worse, Cavani is injured this weekend against Bordeaux.

This, in addition to injuries to Thomas Meunier and Marco Verratti, considerably weakens the team of Thomas Tuchel, who can no longer be considered the favorite to qualify for the quarter-finals.

The conditions are then met for Choupo-Moting to enter the breach.

This is the hero that the PSG needs at the moment, even if it is not the one who deserves all his extravagant investment.

It would be quite ironic: for all their styles of "Globetrotters", this could result from the functionality of their player probably the least glamorous and hardworking.

LIVE @TTuchelofficialPre-match press conference before #MUPSG:

"@KMbappeThe job is not to replace @neymarjr or @ECavaniOfficial. He must play his game. "#PSGlive pic.twitter.com/3Y9Ufr4sNs

– Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) February 11, 2019

Without the floss and the provocative flourishes of Neymar and the rapier-shaped Cavani movement, it will almost certainly be a daunting task.

However, without this star dust, a stronger and more disciplined tactical approach might emerge.

It would serve the French part better; after all, it's a lack of proper structure that has proven effective over the years … and who better shape this style, than Choupo-Moting?