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Blithe PSG await Dynamo test

Carlo Ancelotti believes that his Paris Saint-Germain FC side are not "under any extra pressure" as they begin their Group A campaign at home against FC Dynamo Kyiv.

Blithe PSG await Dynamo test
Blithe PSG await Dynamo test ©UEFA.com

Having led AC Milan to glory in 2003 and 2007, Carlo Ancelotti begins his quest to lift the UEFA Champions League for a third time as coach of Paris Saint-Germain FC, with FC Dynamo Kyiv looking to test the Ligue 1 side in Group A.

PSG
Coach Carlo Ancelotti

Expectations are high before this match, especially because PSG have not taken part in this competition for eight years. The match will be difficult, as all first matches are, but that doesn't mean we are under any extra pressure.

We have no major issues with the team and we have improved, both in terms of our attitude and technically. We have only six matches to reach the next round, unlike 38 in the league, and I am sure we will always give it 100%. At the end of the match against Toulouse [FC], Mamadou Sakho suffered a slight injury and he won't be available, nor will [Gregory] van der Wiel.

Weekend result
Friday: PSG 2-0 Toulouse FC (Pastore 38, Ibrahimović 69)
Sirigu; Sakho, Alex, Maxwell, Jallet; Matuidi, Verratti (Armand 83), Thiago Motta, Pastore (Chantome 70), Ménez (Nêné 76), Ibrahimović.

• Coach Ancelotti made no changes to his starting XI as PSG claimed their first home win of the season.

• Zlatan Ibrahimović scored his fifth goal in as many Ligue 1 games.

Team news
Sakho is injured and Van der Wiel is not yet match-fit after his summer transfer from AFC Ajax. Brazil stopper Thiago Silva is likely to make his PSG debut, though, either from the start or off the bench. Ancelotti said: "Thiago Silva is available and could play."

Dynamo
Coach Yuri Semin
It will be our third match against PSG. They beat us in the UEFA Champions League in 1994 [3-1 on aggregate], but we had our revenge three years ago [3-0 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup]. It will be an extremely difficult fixture and it's very hard to predict the winner.

Everyone is the squad is fit. Those who had minor knocks have shaken them off. A lot of things have changed in three years. PSG are now a team full of stars, with players of a very, very high standard. Getting any points here would be a good result for sure, just as it would be for any other visiting side.

Weekend result
Friday: Dynamo 3-1 FC Karpaty Lviv (Brown 34, Kranjčar 57, 63; Lucas 72)
Koval; Danilo Silva, Khacheridi, Mikhalik, Taiwo; Gusev, Veloso, Kranjčar, Raffael, Dudu; Brown.

• Ideye Brown scored his eight league goal of the season and Niko Kranjčar added two in the second half to earn Dynamo their seventh win out of nine.

Team news
Dynamo have travelled to the French capital without three of their main forwards. Ayila Yussuf, Artem Milevskiy and Marco Ruben all remained in Ukraine, as did midfielder Serhiy Rybalka.

Match fact
PSG are returning to the UEFA Champions League after eight seasons and begin their campaign against Dynamo, the club that knocked them out in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup quarter-final.

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