It was recently reported that Lille had requested the postponement of their match against Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1’s 24th round, currently scheduled for Saturday March 1 at 9.05pm. This is in order to better prepare for their Champions League Round of 8 first leg against Borussia Dortmund. L’Equipe now reports that PSG’s response is clear-cut.
“The capital club, which expressed surprise at LOSC’s late request on Friday evening, indicated that it had anticipated this type of “bottleneck” in the calendar a few weeks ago, in the event of qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League.
Paris explained that it had asked for the Cup match to be brought forward to Tuesday, a proposal rejected by France Télévisions, according to PSG. At the same time, the Parisian directors made a request to move the clash against Lille to Friday. This was reportedly refused by the LFP.”
We’re cautious, there’s nothing official here. But it’s a subject on which L’Equipe is relatively reliable, and it’s easy to understand why PSG wouldn’t particularly like to see this match placed anywhere else. Not least because their schedule may not leave much room for it afterwards.
Also, because 10 days without a match isn’t necessarily better than having to keep up the pace. As we’ve already seen several times in soccer, rest isn’t everything.
Let’s wait and see what happens, but it’s hard to believe that PSG/Lille could be played on a weekend other than the one scheduled.
