Partnerforen » in the second with his second goal of the play

PARIS - Given how well Paris Saint-Germain played in Tuesday nights thrilling 3-2 win against a previously unbeaten Barcelona side, the clubs poor league form remains somewhat of a mystery.The two-time defending champion has drawn five of eight league games and coach Laurent Blanc said after the Barca game that perhaps his players lack enough motivation when theyre playing in the less competitive French league. Still, victory over Monaco on Sunday is paramount as league leader Marseille is gradually building up a healthy lead over PSG.Here are some things to know about this weekends games:___IBRAHIMOVIC DOUBTParis Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc is sweating on the fitness of star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic ahead of Sundays home game against Monaco. Ibrahimovic is struggling to recover from a left heel injury which has kept him out of the past three matches.If Ibrahimovic fails to recover in time to face Monaco, his absence may not be such bad news, after all.Without Ibrahimovic, the players gelled much better as a team, and showed in Tuesdays win against Barcelona that they could finally step out of his imposing shadow.I told the players before the game that to get great results there has to be great teamwork, Blanc said. Even though there were a lot of good individual performances, it was a collective performance above all.However, PSG is clearly better off having Ibrahimovic around. He was the French leagues top scorer in the past two seasons and totals 61 goals in 72 league games since joining PSG from AC Milan.___PASTORE OR CAVANI?Javier Pastores outstanding performance in Tuesdays 3-2 win against Barcelona in the Champions League means he will be hard to leave out of the side from now on.The Argentine playmaker was PSGs first big signing when he joined for 42 million euros ($53 million) three years ago, but over the past two seasons Pastore has failed to hold down a regular place under coach Laurent Blanc.He made a huge contribution against Barca, however, and was the best player on the night with his darting runs and superb passing.Blanc now faces somewhat of a headache, for when Ibrahimovic recovers from injury and returns to the side, Blanc will have to decide whether to go with one centre forward in a 4-3-3 formation or two up front in a 4-4-2.If he goes with just one, he must choose if he wants to keep Edinson Cavani or Pastore as one of his wide players.The problem is that Cavani cost PSG 64 million euros ($80.1 million) and dropping such a costly player may prove problematic.A 4-4-2 would accommodate both Cavani and Pastore, but Blanc is not as keen on that formation.___MAGNIFICENT SEVEN?Led by the irrepressible form of top scorer Andre-Pierre Gignac, who has eight goals already, Marseille will be looking for a seventh straight league win when it travels to Caen on Saturday.With five goals in his past three games, it is little wonder that Marseilles notoriously hard to please fans voted him their best player of the month for September.It has been quite some turnaround for Gignac, who was beset by weight issues when he first joined the club four years ago and mercilessly teased by his own fans, who even nicknamed him Big Mac for his love of fast food.After managing only nine league goals in his first 51 games, Gignac turned his fortunes around by scoring 24 in his last 43 matches to become Marseilles No. 1 striker.He was called up to Frances squad by coach Didier Deschamps on Thursday for upcoming matches against Portugal and Armenia.___SANE SIDELINEDSecond-place Bordeaux has defended consistently well this season, and centre half Lamine Sanes absence will be a big blow to coach Willy Sagnol.Sane had an operation on his troublesome right knee Wednesday and he faces up to six weeks out.Sagnol had initially hoped Sane would only need physio treatment on his knee, but the operation means he will miss the trip to face defending champion Paris Saint-Germain on Oct. 25.Sane could return in time for the trip to Marseille three weeks later.Left back Diego Contento is also out of the Reims match because of a muscle problem.___MALOUDA EFFECTFlorent Malouda is proving to be somewhat of a lucky charm for Metz.Since the former Chelsea and France winger joined Metz a€” following a brief spell with Turkish side Trabzonspor a€” the newly-promoted side has won three straight games with Malouda proving influential.Malouda, who played 80 times for France, set up his sides third goal for Venezuelan striker Juan Falcon in last weekends 3-0 win against Reims.Metz is in fifth place and finds itself in the unexpected position of being level on points with Paris Saint-Germain, which is ahead only on goal difference.Metz will be confident of securing a fourth straight win when it travels to play 18th-place Evian on Saturday. Taylor Leier Jersey . Onyshko, from Minnedosa, Man., will compete in artistic gymnastics while Hanet, from Kelowna, B.C., will compete in lawn bowling as a para-athlete. "It is exciting that our Canadian athletes are starting to arrive at the Games Village," said Chantal Petitclerc, Canadas Chef de Mission. Claude Giroux Jersey . The third baseman whipped the ball across the diamond to second baseman Aaron Hill. He quickly tossed it to shortstop Chris Owings, who flipped over his shoulder to left fielder Cody Ross. http://www.officialflyersfanstore.com/au...-flyers-jersey/. Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN Canadiens at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The game can also be heard on TSN Radio Montreal 690. The Calgary Flames will see if they can take their recent hot streak on the road when they shoot for a sixth consecutive win Monday night in Montreal. Dale Weise Jersey .Martin Caceres marked his return from injury by scoring in the 3-1 win at Napoli and he believes Juventus sent out a warning to the rest of the league with that result.We go out on the pitch every game looking to give our all, Caceres said. Samuel Morin Jersey . His chance at winning a Stanley Cup in Philadelphia is over. Same with Jeff Carter. And Brian Boucher. Throw in Ville Leino and Dan Carcillo.KENNEWICK, Wash. -- Tri-Citys Brendan Shinnimin has scored a lot of goals this season, but none bigger than the game-winner Wednesday night in Game 7 against the Spokane Chiefs. Shinnimin scored with 4:18 left in regulation to lead the Americans into the Western Hockey Leagues Western Conference final with a 3-2 victory over the Chiefs. Shinnimin took a pass from Brian Williams and beat Spokane goalie Eric Williams from the slot. "Words cant really describe the feeling of that (goal) going in, and the feeling of our team after the game," Shinnimin said. "A lot of people might have thought it wouldnt have been this many games, but the guys in our room knew what they were capable of and what kind of team they were." Tri-City advanced to play Portland, which defeated Kamloops 2-0 in Game 7 of their semifinal series. The Blazers, who rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie the series at 3-3, fell short in knocking off the Winterhawks. The victory gave the Americans their first playoff series victory over Spokane since 1995. "If you caught one of these games, you were treated to some of the best junior hockey entertainment you are going to see," Tri-City coach Jim Hiller said. "Both teams did everything they could. What else can you ask? "There wasnt one shift in the last 12 days or seven games that either team could have relaxed. Every game was decided by one goal -- two goals was the empty net. No team had a lead of more than two goals. There was not once where you thought it was over." Spokane coach Don Nachbaur was on the winning end of this same series last year, but his team couldnt hold on this time around. "It was pretty intense," Nachbaur said. "It would have been a Cinderella story, where we finished and how young we are in certain areas of our team. We took them to the well. I know they are over there saying this wasnt an easy series. I think we took a lot out of them for the next series." Tied at 1-1 after the second period, Mitch Holmberg put the Chiefs out front 2-1 with a goal at 5:47 of the third..dddddddddddd. Spokane held onto the lead until late in the period when Tri-Citys Malte Stromwall knocked a rebound past Williams at 14:38. Just 1:04 later, Shinnimin scored to give Tri-City the lead for good. "We had so many chances and I thought we played so well," Hiller said. "It was a little disheartening to see us down that late in the game. But weve done this before, weve come back late. I knew there was a belief there. Unlikely heroes like Stromwall and Williams and a likely hero in Shinnimin." The Americans had plenty of chances in the first period, outshooting the Chiefs 14-4, but could not get the puck past Williams, who finished the night with 45 saves. "I think our goalie gave us an all-world performance tonight," Nachbaur said. "He has been spectacular the whole series." Spokanes Mike Aviani was awarded a penalty shot at 16:59 after being hauled down by Tri-City defenceman Mitch Topping. Aviani failed to take advantage of his opportunity as Ty Rimmer stopped him at the right post, but the Chiefs would scored two minutes later. Working on their first power play, the Chiefs found the net at 18:48 as Blake Gals shot from the far edge of the left face-off circle was deflected past Rimmer by Dominik Uher. Tri-Citys Williams tied the score at 5:03 in the second with his second goal of the playoffs. This marks the fourth time in five years that either Tri-City or Spokane has advanced to the Western Conference finals. They played each other in 2008, with Spokane winning an epic seven-game series that featured five overtime games -- three of which went double overtime. Spokane went on to win the Memorial Cup that year. Tri-City won the Western Conference title in 2010, while Spokane lost to Portland in the finals last year. Shinnimin, who won the regular season scoring title with 134 points, continued his point streak in the post season, which now has reached 34 games. Shinnimin, who leads the Americans with 18 points in the playoffs, has not been held without a point since Jan. 29 at Calgary. ' ' '