Paris Saint-Germain manager Laurent Blanc has indicated that neither Marco Verratti nor Javier Pastore will return to boost their chances of beating Manchester City in the Champions League next week.
Key central midfielder Verratti, 23, and attacking midfielder Pastore, 26, have both been struggling with injury of late. Neither player recovered in time to feature in Wednesday's 2-2 draw in the first leg of the quarter-final tie.
Blanc used a postmatch news conference to swiftly end speculation that the pair stand a chance of playing in next Tuesday's second leg in Manchester.
Verratti is a vital member of PSG's starting XI, while Pastore's absence could also be keenly felt next week since the first leg result means that the French champions will likely need to win in Manchester to progress to the semifinals.
Blanc will also have to cope without centre-back David Luiz and energetic midfielder Blaise Matuidi, both of whom are suspended for the return match after picking up yellow cards on Wednesday.
"I'm very disappointed because at the time I didn't want to commit a foul,"Matuidi, 28, told reporters after the game.
"But that's the way it is. It wasn't a good night for me or the team.
"But I hope that my team mates will give their all -- in any case, I'll support them fully -- in order to try to win and qualify over there."
More responsibility will now be placed on Adrien Rabiot, 21, who scored PSG's second goal on Wednesday and also spent six months at Manchester City when he was 13.
The France under-21 international said he is unconcerned that history suggests that City are now favourites to advance.
Four out of five teams who have drawn a Champions League knockout match 2-2 away from home in the first leg have gone on to qualify for the next round.
"I don't place faith in statistics," he told reporters. "I think we're capable of doing it -- so do the others. That's the most important thing."
Fellow midfielder Thiago Motta acknowledged that PSG would have to improve if they are to win in Manchester next Tuesday.
"Collectively we weren't good," RMC quoted Motta as saying after the game. "That's clear.
"I don't even need to say that we weren't good. All the PSG players are aware that we were average collectively. We can do a lot better.
"We played the match in a bit of a disorganised manner, especially when we had the ball. We're not used to playing like that and it allowed the other team to profit from it to play on the counter attack. They caused problems for us like that today.
"We're capable of going and winning over there but we can't commit the same errors as we did today."
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