Dembele and Chevalier to miss PSG’s CL clash against Bilbao

Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele and goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier will both miss Paris Saint-Germain’s (PSG) trip to Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League on Wednesday.

PSG said Dembele is sick while Chevalier is still recovering from a right ankle injury.

It’s another setback for Dembele, who returned from a left calf injury against Tottenham at the end of November and only made two more appearances in the French league.

Before that, Dembele had been sidelined several weeks by a right hamstring injury sustained while playing for France in September.

PSG will also still be without Morocco right back Achraf Hakimi, who has a sprained left ankle and faces a race against time to recover before the Africa Cup of Nations in his home country from Dec. 21. Desire Doue, however, makes his return to Luis Enrique’s squad, having recovered from a muscle strain in his right thigh.

Matvei Safonov is expected to start in goal in the absence of Chevalier, who was injured in a loss against Monaco after a violent tackle from Lamine Camara on Nov. 29.

PSG won the Champions League last season and currently sit second in the league phase after five games, three points behind leader Arsenal.

Meanwhile, the Qatari owners of Paris Saint-Germain are expanding their soccer portfolio with a deal to take over KAS Eupen, the Belgian league club said on Tuesday.

Eupen currently plays in the second tier of Belgian soccer.

QSI, which also owns a minority stake in Portuguese side Sporting Braga, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Eupen’s current owner Aspire Zone Foundation - also a Qatari entity - for the full takeover of the club.

Financial terms of the deal were not announced.

“Throughout our discussions, Qatar Sports Investments has demonstrated a genuine commitment to the long term development of the club,” Eupen said in a statement.

PSG has won 11 Ligue 1 titles since QSI’s arrival and generated club-record revenue of 837 million euros ($976 million) last season.

PSG’s men’s team won the domestic double and clinched the Champions League for the first time this year by routing Inter Milan 5-0 in the final, finally giving QSI the trophy it craved after taking over the club in 2011.

Brugge sack coach Hayen on eve of Arsenal visit: Club Brugge have fired coach Nicky Hayen two days before they host Arsenal in the Champions League and replaced him with their former manager Croatian Ivan Leko.

The 47-year-old Leko, who was Brugge coach from 2017-2019, joins from KAA Gent, who said they were unaware of the move.

Hayen, 45, has been Brugge coach since March 2024 when he stepped up from assistant after the dismissal of Ronny Deila.

Brugge won the league title in dramatic fashion at the end of that season and in the last campaign posted a strong Champions League performance while finishing second to Union Saint-Gilloise in the domestic championship.

This season has seen a dip in form and the weekend defeat against St. Truiden saw Brugge slip from second to third place. League leaders Union have a five-point advantage over them.

“The club would like to sincerely thank Nicky Hayen for his hard work in the past and wishes him all the best in the future,” a statement said.

Hayen took charge of morning training at the club on Monday but was told a few hours later that he had been fired.

Gent said they were completely taken aback when Brugge announced that Leko would be Hayen’s successor.

“I just learned through the press that Nicky Hayen has been dismissed from Club Brugge and that Ivan Leko is his successor,” Gent chairman Sam Baro said in a brief statement.

“I’m as stunned as anyone. I can only say that Club Brugge hasn’t contacted us.”

Leko had a release clause in his KAA Gent contract, allowing him to leave. The fee was reportedly around one million euros ($1.16 million), Belgian media said.

Brugge have four points from five Champions League games and sit outside the qualifying places in 26th spot, needing to beat Arsenal to have any chance of making February’s knockout stages.

Agencies