Club World Cup final: Chelsea handed double boost ahead of PSG showdown
Paris Saint-Germain will be without Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez for the Club World Cup final against Chelsea.
PSG booked their place in Sunday's showpiece with an emphatic 4-0 win over Real Madrid on Wednesday night, 24 hours after the Blues had overcome Fluminense.
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Both sides had to make do without key players for their respective semi-final ties with Pacho, Hernandez, Liam Delap and Levi Colwill all missing out through suspension.
However, whilst the Chelsea pair will be available for the final, the PSG duo will not.
Pacho and Hernandez, unlike Delap and Colwill, were shown straight red cards in the quarter-final as the Ligue 1 giants left it late to record a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich.
The Colombian international was sent off for a lunge on Leon Goretzka before the Frenchman was given his marching orders for an elbow on Raphael Guerreiro.
Suspended: Lucas Hernandez will miss the Club World Cup final (AFP via Getty Images)
Fifa deemed those actions as "rough and serious" play under the Fifa Disciplinary Code which means a two-game suspension instead of one is the punishment for both players.
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As a result, after missing the semi-final thrashing of Real Madrid, they will also sit out the final against Chelsea at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday night.
This is somewhat of a boost for the Blues, particularly in the case of Pacho as he has forged a strong central defensive partnership with Marquinhos which was the foundation for their Champions League triumph back in May.
In his absence, Lucas Beraldo is likely to deputise and interestingly, the only goal PSG have conceded in the Club World Cup so far is when the Brazilian started against Botafogo in the group phase.
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