'Marquinhos is Ballon d'Or level' - Tuchel baffled by FIFA Best snub

The PSG boss was left baffled by his skipper failing to make the cut for a place in the FIFPro World XI for 2020.

Thomas Tuchel has declared Marquinhos as a ‘Ballon d’Or level’ player and that FIFA should have named him in the FIFPro Men’s World XI for 2020.

The 26-year-old Brazilian, who can play as either a center-back or defensive midfielder, made a successful return from injury on Sunday night to help keep Ligue 1 leaders Lille at bay during a 0-0 draw.

Marquinhos recorded a club-best of four aerial duels won and two clearances alongside teammate Thilo Kehrer in an otherwise frustrating match for Paris Saint-Germain.

“Tonight, Marquinhos is Ballon d’Or level,” said head coach Tuchel as quoted on 90min.

“I don’t understand his absence in the FIFA XI of the year.”

PSG stole the ball quite often from Lille in the match and dominated possession. But in the absence of Neymar, along with an unfit Kylian Mbappe sitting on the bench, the visitors were poor in the final third.

It meant they had to settle for a point, leaving them third in the league standings behind pacesetters Lille and Lyon – albeit by a single point.

But Presnel Kimpembe, Alessandro Florenzi, and Layvin Kurzawa all suffered injury issues during the match.

“It’s incredible, it’s our rhythm, all our matches at 21:00… We are lacking sleep and recovery time,” added Tuchel.

“We have had too many injuries until now and picked up another three this evening. To prepare for Strasbourg, we only have two days and we need to analyze who is available.

“We may be can’t expect much of our players. There is a lot of fatigue and injuries.”