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Paris Saint-Germain will play to win at Real Madrid, says Laurent Blanc

Paris Saint-Germain's French  head coach Laurent Blanc gives a press conference on the eve of the team's
Image: Paris Saint-Germain's head coach Laurent Blanc wants his team to impose themselves on Real Madrid

Paris Saint-Germain boss Laurent Blanc that his team will not just sit back and defend when they take on Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.

The sides are currently tied on seven points at the top of their Champions League group, having played out a goalless draw in Paris two weeks ago.

Blanc admitted that Rafa Benitez's team were the better side that night, but expects it to be a different story this time around.

"We respect our opponent but we are ambitious and have come here to impose our game. We have the technical and physical resources to get the win," he said.

"They were better than us with possession and played faster in Paris. Tomorrow's match will be different.

"Real Madrid were well organised and showed a good defence in Paris. We didn't reach their level but our game was solid."

The match will also see Angel Di Maria return to the Bernabeu for the first time since leaving for Manchester United in the summer of 2014.

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The Argentine spent four years in the Spanish capital and was particularly instrumental in his final season at the club as Los Blancos won the Champions League.

Angel Di Maria celebrates scoring the only goal of the game against Rennes
Image: Angel Di Maria will return to the Bernabeu for the first time since leaving in 2014

As such, his former team-mate Marcelo is not expecting any hostility towards Di Maria from the home crowd.

"I think that Di Maria will receive a warm welcome," Marcelo said. "He's a great player.

"But we can't afford to concentrate on one single Paris player. We need to keep an eye on the whole team."

Goalkeeper Keylor Navas is also expecting a difficult match against the French champions and believes the players will treat it like 'a final.'

"Paris Saint-Germain are a side that has players of very high quality. It will be a difficult match, a key match in our season," said Navas.

"All the players want to play in it. It's like a final. We will approach this match with a lot of enthusiasm."

Both sides have a number of injuries to contend with and Madrid are set to be without Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Alvaro Arbeloa while Blanc must cope without centre-back Marquinhos and midfielder Javier Pastore, who is suffering with conjunctivitis.

However, PSG will be boosted by the return of David Luiz after a knee injury.

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