MANCHESTER UNITED’S ALEXIS Sanchez is set to be out for up to six weeks after suffering a knee injury, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed on Tuesday.
“It was a bad knee injury so it’s four weeks, or six weeks,” the Norwegian said at a press conference in Paris on the eve of United’s Champions League last 16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germain.
“Hopefully he’ll recover quickly.”
The Premier League club have a mountain to climb against the French side after losing 2-0 in the first leg at Old Trafford last month.
Sanchez came off early in the second half of United’s 3-2 win over Southampton at the weekend, and now joins a host of players in the treatment room.
Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Ander Herrera are among the players already sidelined, while Paul Pogba is suspended here after being sent off in the first leg.
As a result, five recent academy graduates were included in the travelling squad of 20.
Solskjaer’s resources have been stretched since United’s scoreless draw against Liverpool 10 days ago.
The home side were forced into three first-half substitutions against their rivals, including Lingard who had only made his return from injury.
Sanchez is the latest player set for a spell on the sidelines and will miss this weekend’s game against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium – where he scored the winner against his former side in the FA Cup at the end of January.
Mountain to climb
Solskjaer remains optimistic his team can turn the Champions League last-16 second leg tie around.
The United boss has taken heart from PSG’s previous results in the competition, having squandered far bigger leads on the European stage.
Two years ago, they won 4-0 against Barcelona at the same stage, only to lose 6-1 in the return, although on that occasion the second leg was away from home.
We all remember those results, so there are so many examples of teams that can change results like this. Us as a club, we have done it so many times.
“The players have been fantastic away from home, we have beaten Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, which has given us belief that we can do this as well.”
With additional reporting from © – AFP 2018.
Bernard Jackman joins Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey to discuss the backlash to World Rugby’s league proposal, captaincy styles, sports psychology and more in The42 Rugby Weekly.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here: