Paris Saint-Germain would also like to be free between the Champions League quarter-finals in Ligue 1. But title rivals RC Lens are fighting back – with a powerful statement.
Paris Saint-Germain dispatched Chelsea FC 5:2 and 3:0 in the Champions League round of 16. Whether it would have been necessary to have a weekend off in between given this balance of power is questionable, but the fact is that the defending champions had arranged for the Ligue 1 home game against FC Nantes to be postponed so that they could go into the second leg rested.
According to French media reports, PSG are also planning to do the same around the quarter-final against Liverpool FC – but this time the plan appears to have failed. This would affect the top match at second-placed RC Lens on April 11 (5 p.m.), and they are not even thinking of giving Paris this European Cup advantage.
“In the spirit of responsibility and prudence, Racing Club de Lens has already informed Paris Saint-Germain of its intention not to postpone this date in response to initial inquiries,” read a powerful club statement on Monday evening. “True to a certain idea of sporting stability, the club had also decided to refrain from making any public statement on the subject. However, the recent increase in statements, interventions and various proposals has prompted us to abandon this restraint today.”
“A peculiar concept of sporting fairness”
The long-established club, which is one game and one point behind the defending champions, writes of the “worrying feeling that the French championship is gradually being degraded to a variable of adaptation, subordinated to the European requirements of a few. A peculiar conception of sporting fairness for which there is hardly an equivalent in other major continental competitions.”
The fans of FC Nantes expressed similar sentiments a few weeks ago, but their club did not listen. The penultimate club, which is in acute danger of relegation, will now not play in Paris until April 22.
Lens would not only have to suddenly take a 15-day break if the match was postponed, but would also have to play every three days thereafter. This is not in line with the club’s capabilities, the club writes and calls for more “respect for the competition”.
