Mbappe in PSG squad to face Dortmund after throat infection but Thiago Silva ruled out

Joe Wright

Mbappe in PSG squad to face Dortmund after throat infection but Thiago Silva ruled out image

Kylian Mbappe is in the Paris Saint-Germain squad to face Borussia Dortmund after recovering from a throat infection, but club captain Thiago Silva remains unavailable as he continues down the comeback trail after injury.

Mbappe had been a doubt for the Champions League last-16 second leg at Parc des Princes after struggling with illness, which forced him to miss two training sessions at the start of the week.

The France star reportedly had tests for coronavirus, which came back negative, and showed up for training with the rest of his team-mates on Wednesday.

However, PSG captain Silva will sit out the match due to a hamstring injury sustained last month, while Ander Herrera is not expected to return to action until April.

Idrissa Gueye and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting are also out, but head coach Thomas Tuchel has no new injury concerns ahead of his side's latest European outing.

PSG trail 2-1 from the first leg in Germany and are attempting to avoid exiting the competition at the first knockout stage for the fourth season in a row.

A second-half brace from in-form Norwegian striker Erling Haaland was enough to earn Dortmund a slender lead in the tie, with Neymar grabbing the only goal for the visitors.

The return at Parc des Princes will be held behind closed doors in compliance with measures implemented by French authorities to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Valencia's meeting with Atalanta on Tuesday was held in an empty stadium, with Barcelona vs Napoli, Bayern Munich vs Chelsea and Juventus vs Lyon set to follow suit next week as the Champions League bids to avoid any postponements.

The Europa League has also been forced to ban supporters from attending a number of round-of-16 fixtures due to the COVID-19 outbreak, including LASK vs Manchester United, Olympiacos vs Wolves and Bayer Leverkusen vs Rangers.

Meanwhile, domestic club football has been gradually grinding to a halt amid a growing global crisis, with Serie A and the Swiss Super League shutting down on a temporary basis, while La Liga, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 are playing games behind closed doors.

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.