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Having sealed their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in midweek, Paris Saint-Germain will hope to get the better of bogey team Saint-Etienne in Ligue 1 tomorrow. |
The French capital club are fresh from a 2-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen that saw win their last-16 tie 6-1 on aggregate and further boosted confidence as they turn their attentions back to a seemingly relentless march towards retaining their domestic title.
Laurent Blanc’s side are unbeaten in 12 league games and come into the weekend eight points clear of nearest challengers Monaco at the top of the table. The coach will bring back several players who were rested in midweek, including former Saint-Etienne captain Blaise Matuidi, and he will be looking for a better display from his side after they failed to reach their usual heights against Leverkusen.
“It wasn’t a great PSG performance. I was expecting a bit more from my team, but we will move on now and worry about the game against Saint-Etienne,” said Blanc after Wednesday’s match.
“The serious things are going to start now and the players will be motivated. We are on course to have a very, very good season but what counts are the trophies at the end. We have the league and the League Cup (where they play Lyon in next month’s final) and we want to go as far as possible in the Champions League.”
Les Verts, European Cup runners-up in 1976, have a good recent record against PSG, although they did squander a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in October and lost in extra time in Paris in the League Cup in December.
And Christophe Galtier’s side suffered a setback last weekend when a 1-0 reverse at Lorient ended a run of five matches without defeat. That result also saw them slip four points behind Lille, who occupy the third and final Champions League qualifying berth, but skipper Loic Perrin believes they stand a chance of springing an upset at the Parc des Princes.
Lille have put a poor start to 2014 behind them during a five-game unbeaten run and today they will expect to get the better of struggling Nantes, who have plummeted down the table during a spell of eight games without victory.