Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart could make his return to the first team in time to take part in Wednesday night’s first-leg Champions League match against French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
The England international goalkeeper is being given a 50/50 chance of taking part in the activities at the Parc des Princes as he recovers from a calf strain that medical staff at the Etihad are working furiously on in order to get the shot-stopper match ready.
The Blues will be hoping to take their new found Premier League form with them to France after convincingly beating Bournemouth 0-4 at Dean Court on Saturday.
City No.2 Willy Caballero is ready to resume his duties between the posts if Hart is still on the disabled list and is no stranger to this stage of the Champions League competition after having reached the quarter-finals under City boss Manuel Pellegrini while at La Liga side Malaga.
“The biggest mistake you can make is what we did last year, when we took on Barcelona after beating Newcastle 5-0,” said the 34-year-old Argentinean goalkeeper.
“Now we have just beaten Bournemouth 4-0 but can’t take this game with us to play against Paris. We have to realise this is a game between two big teams.”
A decision on Hart will be taken on Tuesday morning before the squad boards the flight to Paris, and Caballero said he was just as much in the dark as everyone else as to whether or not he will be playing or sat watching from the bench.
“I haven’t spoken to the manager about Paris, as we don’t know about Joe’s recovery,” said Caballero.
Whoever is in nets for the Blues will be hoping to keep a clean sheet to take back to the Etihad for the second-leg, and if City can snatch that all-important away goal they have a great chance of making it to the next round.
