{"id":888488,"date":"2026-01-28T23:17:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T05:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/luis-enrique-fears-complicated-kvaratskhelia-injury-as-psg-boss-defends-play-off-place\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T23:17:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T05:17:36","slug":"luis-enrique-fears-complicated-kvaratskhelia-injury-as-psg-boss-defends-play-off-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/luis-enrique-fears-complicated-kvaratskhelia-injury-as-psg-boss-defends-play-off-place\/","title":{"rendered":"Luis Enrique fears \u00b4complicated\u00b4 Kvaratskhelia injury as PSG boss defends play-off place"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Luis Enrique was worried about a \u201ccomplicated\u201d injury to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United that condemned Paris Saint-Germain to the Champions League play-off round again.<\/p>\n

Victory at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday would have taken PSG into the top eight, and they made a bright start as Ousmane Dembele saw a penalty saved even before Vitinha\u2019s eighth-minute opener.<\/p>\n

But PSG were rocked by an injury to star winger Kvaratskhelia, who stayed down after his ankle became awkwardly tangled as he fouled Anthony Elanga.<\/p>\n

Kvaratskhelia, who assisted Vitinha\u2019s goal, had to be helped off the pitch, and PSG seemed to suffer from that setback as Newcastle gained a foothold and then a point through Joe Willock\u2019s equaliser.<\/p>\n

This injury comes just as PSG looked to be recovering their squad to full fitness, with Fabian Ruiz their most notable remaining absentee on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Coach Luis Enrique said after the match: \u201cWe\u2019ve lost another important player to injury; we\u2019ll have to see the tests on Thursday. It\u2019s his ankle, and it\u2019s complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

We\u2019ll face Qarabag FK or AS Monaco in the Champions League KO play-offs.<\/p>\n

First leg away (17-18 February)
\nSecond leg at home (25-25 February) pic.twitter.com\/uQMogpN13c<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) January 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

PSG breezed through the play-offs last year, thrashing Brest 10-0 on aggregate en route to winning the competition for the first time in their history.<\/p>\n

Memories of that run perhaps contributed to Luis Enrique\u2019s open-minded reaction to facing the additional round once more, while he defended PSG\u2019s inability to secure a top-eight finish following a three-match winless run in Europe.<\/p>\n

Newcastle are now the only team to have played PSG three or more times in the Champions League and never lost, and Luis Enrique pointed to their opponents\u2019 quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cNewcastle is a Pot Four team\u2026 are they a small team?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could have had better results, but we\u2019re here, we\u2019re ready, and we\u2019ll see who we play against. I\u2019m very demanding of my team, but we have to analyse and look at our schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s positive for me is that when you consistently play against top teams, you\u2019re ready for the upcoming matches.\u201d<\/p>\n

As with Brest last year, PSG could again face Ligue 1 opposition in the next phase, as, after finishing 11th, they will be drawn against either Monaco or Qarabag.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>SoccerNews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Luis Enrique was worried about a \u201ccomplicated\u201d injury to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United that condemned Paris Saint-Germain to the Champions League play-off round again. Victory at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday would have taken PSG into the top eight, and they made a bright start as Ousmane Dembele […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":888489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33216,719,2005],"tags":[109311,9848],"class_list":["post-888488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-enrique","category-fears","category-soccer","tag-enrique","tag-fears"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}