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MANCHESTER -- Paris Saint-Germain boss Laurent Blanc has backed striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic to fire the French champions in the Champions League semifinals. The Swedish striker had an off-day in the first leg in Paris, missing a penalty and hitting the crossbar, though he did score a first-half equaliser in the 2-2 draw. Ibrahimovic has 41 goals from 44 games this season, including eight in his last four games. But there have been question marks over his Champions League quality with the 34-year-old scoring just eight goals in the knockout stages in a career spanning 15 years. But Ibrahimovic scored home and away in the previous round against Chelsea and Blanc expects him to recover from his first-leg blip at the Parc des Princes. Blanc told a news conference: "We're always a bit surprised when Zlatan misses a chance. When you're a top goalscorer like him, you can miss a couple of chances and, unfortunately, for us he missed them in that game. "He still scored though. He's someone who is extremely demanding of himself. He wants to show something else tomorrow, he wants to be more clinical in front of goal. "If we create as many chances as the first leg tomorrow, I think his conversion rate will be a lot higher." Blanc's side must win or get a high-scoring win at the Etihad to reach the last four and the former France and Manchester United defender predicted more goals in the second leg. He added: "The team that concedes the fewest goals will go through. There will be goals. We must be very good at the back. "PSG is capable of qualifying, but we know how difficult it will be. "City played extremely well in Paris and have top quality players going forward. We need to be more solid at the back, close down spaces as well. "If we leave them space, they really exploit it. We need to be compact and play our own game as well." PSG are without the suspended Blaise Matuidi and David Luiz, while Blanc does not expect to be able to select Italy midfielder Marco Verratti. He added: "Verratti is here because we decided to take the whole group. We want to have everyone involved. "For Marco, we'll wait until tomorrow to see if there is a miracle."
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