Blanc considers rotation ahead of Madrid trip

Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc has a number of fitness worries ahead of Friday’s league clash at Rennes, the PSG boss acknowledging he could field a much-changed side.

The Ligue 1 leaders will make the trip to Roazhon Park without the likes of Javier Pastore, David Luiz and Presnel Kimpembe due to injury.

PSG are in Champions League action against Real Madrid on Tuesday and Blanc will look to rotate where possible although the former France captain insists his decision is not purely based on the trip to Madrid.

“We cannot look to rest the players just because we are thinking about the next match,” he said on Thursday.

“Rotation is more about the idea of ​​not increasing the chances of injury in the future. We have stats that allow us to know who has played the most. If we have five or six players who have been subjected to a very significant pace, we think about preservation, not resting them.

“We will think about it for Rennes as we have some injured players.”

Brazilian Luiz has not featured since injuring his knee on international duty, with Kimpembe (ankle) and Pastore (conjunctivitis) also set to miss out on Friday’s clash.

“Pastore has conjunctivitis. He is not going to travel with the team for tomorrow,” Blanc added.

“David Luiz is in recovery but he will not be moving to Rennes, neither will Kimpembe. We hope to recover everyone for Madrid.”