Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) manager Thomas Tuchel has said that their French League Cup final against Lyon on Saturday will be a “top-level game” like the Champions League fixtures. Tuchel has asked his players to draw inspiration from their French Cup victory over Saint-Etienne last week.

“We’re going to choose the XI after tonight’s training session. We have a big challenge ahead of us tomorrow, it’ll be a top-level game, Champions League-standard. We won a big and difficult game last week, that’s good for the confidence and the atmosphere in the dressing room. A new challenge now awaits us. We have to prepare well, and that’s what we’ll do,” Tuchel said as quoted on the official website of PSG.

“We always want to have the ball. We try to play with intensity, to speed the game up, to press. It was a difficult choice to leave Marco Verratti on the bench last week, but Paredes and Gueye deserved to start the final. They worked well and found solutions in midfield. I have several options again for tomorrow,” he added.

However, on being asked if PSG will treat Saturday’s final against Lyon as a preparatory match for their Champions League contest against Atlanta next month, Tuchel denied saying that Lyon’s style of play is different from the Italian club.

“It is not possible to tactically prepare for Atalanta in a match against Lyon. I don’t know a team that plays like Atalanta. We can just work on our state of mind and show our hunger to win. This will prepare us from this point of view if we get a good result tomorrow,” the PSG boss said.

Meanwhile, Tuchel expressed his hope of having Kylian Mbappe available for their match against Atlanta. But he admitted that the chances of Mbappe playing are slim and that it would be a “miracle” if he does.

Mbappe, the World Cup winner with France in 2018, had suffered a horrific injury during their tie against Saint-Etienne at the Stade de France last week. The 21-year-old had limped off the ground after Loic Perrin’s strong tackle had left him suffering in pain.

“This will have an important influence for us, but I hope that the solution will be found. “We still hope [he can play against Atalanta], but the chances will be very, very small. Every day counts to achieve a miracle, but tomorrow we will have to adapt without Kylian,” Tuchel said.