Zlatan Ibrahimovic out injured against Barcelona

Paris Saint-Germain have announced that striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not be fit for the club’s big UEFA Champions League clash with FC Barcelona on Tuesday. The club announced that he underwent tests on an injured heel on Monday, and that the results revealed he would not be fit in time to face the Blaugrana.

“Without Ibrahimovic, it will not be easy, as we know. Tomorrow we need a good team to compensate for his absence,” said manager Laurent Blanc on Monday. “The technical staff did everything to try to help recover him as soon as possible.”

Without Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani will almost certainly be moved into the middle and start at center forward. He’s had more success on the wing early this season than he did last, and his defensive work rate has improved significantly, but he’s still much better in the middle than he is out wide. PSG shouldn’t experience too serious of a drop-off with Ibrahimovic out.

In previous matches that Ibrahimovic has missed, Lucas Moura has come into the team to replace Cavani on the wing, with either Ezequiel Lavezzi or Javier Pastore out wide, depending on how narrow Blanc wants his side to play and if he’d like a more defensive player than Pastore in the midfield.

PSG surprisingly drew their Champions League opener, and might have to resign themselves to finishing second in the group if they lose to Barcelona on Tuesday.