Paris Saint-Germain will be without a key player for their UEFA Super Cup clash against Tottenham on Wednesday evening with some important suspension rules now clarified.
For the opening clash of their respective 2025/26 seasons, the Europa League winners are set to meet Luis Enrique's side in Italy. The Champions League holders have endured a very different pre-season to Spurs with this being their first game since mid-July due to their participation in the Club World Cup.
PSG were denied a second trophy in as many months by Chelsea with some unsavoury scenes late into the game taking the headlines. Enrique was captured pushing Joao Pedro in the face after Joao Neves was shown a straight red card for pulling Marc Cucurella's hair.
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The consequences of that dismissal were unclear with the next edition of the tournament not due to take place for another four years. Their next fixture being on the European stage saw questions asked over whether or not the Portugal international would be able to feature.
With just a few days until the showpiece final takes place, an answer has finally arrived. According to RMC Sport, Neves is suspended for the clash against Spurs and the Parisians Ligue 1 opener away to Nantes.
While that is far from ideal for Enrique, he has a number of options who can replace Neves. Spurs boss Thomas Frank is facing a dilemma of his own in midfield with Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison both unavailable through injury.
Pape Sarr has performed well in the No.10 role during pre-season while Lucas Bergvall has also thrown his hat in the ring to solve Spurs' creativity problems. Frank is dealing with other injury concerns across the pitch but his latest update suggests at least some positive news should arrive soon.
"I think it's three different cases. I think Dom (Solanke) is quite soon that he'll be available," he admitted following the 4-0 defeat to Bayern Munich earlier this week.
"Destiny we'll know more about in the next couple of days. in terms of how it looks in detail and Kulusevski is out for a long time, which I spoke about before."
Spurs will also be without Son Heung-min following his transfer to LAFC and though Frank has confirmed a replacement and new attacking midfielder are being considered, it is unlikely either arrive before the PSG clash.
"We are definitely in the market in general," he said. "Of course, when players get a long-term injury we need to look into that, but generally we are in the market, yes.
"Nobody feels close or far away. I'm not saying anything before there's anything that is completely 100%." On potentially replacing Son, Frank added: "As I said, we are in the market. If we think we can find the right one, one who can improve the team, then he will be signed. If we can't, then not."
PSG, meanwhile, have wrapped up two big deals in the last week with goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier joining from Lille and an agreement finally reached for Bournemouth's Illia Zabarnyi.
