This was to be expected: at 24 hours of face-to-face between the two teams that dominate Ligue 1, this Saturday at the Parc des Princes (5 p.m. on Canal +), each coach has skillfully put aside the pressure inherent in such a crucial meeting in the title race.
"Whoever wins will not yet be champion and whoever loses will still be in the race", slipped Christophe Galtier while Mauricio Pochettino mentioned "three very important but not decisive points".
Midfielder Benjamin André even tried to deflect the pressure on Parisian shoulders by stressing: “At the start of the season, we would have signed to be tied with PSG eight days from the end!
Le Losc is not scheduled for the title.
The only team programmed for that is Paris, because of its workforce and its budget.
And maybe Lyon… ”
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Make no mistake, the result of the third meeting between PSG and Lille of the season - after the draw in the first leg (0-0) and the Parisian success in the advanced round of 16 of the Coupe de France (3-0) - well worth a lot for the title race.
Paris remains on a demonstration in Lyon (4-2) and Lille on a pale setback at home against Nîmes (1-2).
The fifteen-day international truce that is coming to an end will have created an even greater expectation around this Saturday's duel, while Lyon and Monaco remain ready to exploit the slightest misstep of one of their rivals.
If there is one who impatiently awaits this meeting, it is Neymar.
The Brazilian, who has not yet faced Lille this season, has not started since February 10 and the 32nd final of the Coupe de France in Caen, where he had injured his groin.
Relaunched twenty minutes in Lyon, he is again smiling and sharp after fifteen studious days at the Camp des Loges.
What better way to prepare Bayern well?
In lack of rhythm, he will however have the opportunity to send a strong signal before the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League, Wednesday, in Munich, against Bayern.
It is obviously the peculiarity of the challenge that awaits the Parisians against Lille to be part of a calendar that will not leave them any respite.
For a team too prone to air holes this season, the mission is not easy to achieve.
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Symbol of these services on alternating current, Kylian Mbappé will once again attract most of the attention.
His words at the end of the Blues match in Sarajevo and the evocation of his "fatigue" in the face of criticism to which he is the subject in France, place him more than ever at the center of the game at a time when his future remains uncertain.
But we can count on his ever-insane thirst for competition to invest himself in the next two games with a ferocious appetite.
What better way to prepare for the trip to Munich than to shine in front of the Losc?
🎙️💬 #PSGLOSC
Mauricio Pochettino: "@neymarjr has increased his pace of play, he must now play!"
🔥🤙 pic.twitter.com/Rii8e2fdpu
- Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) April 2, 2021
In any case, Parisians will not be able to complain about unfavorable treatment before their reunion with Europe.
This Saturday, Bayern will also have a lot to face against its runner-up, Leipzig.
And while PSG now deplores the absence of Marco Verratti, the Bavarian club will only have this Bundesliga meeting to develop a game system without Robert Lewandowski.
But before thinking about their reunion with Choupo-Moting, Coman and the other Munich residents, the Parisians have a meeting with the club of Olivier Létang and Sylvain Armand.
Not to talk about the good old days, but to create new memories by taking an essential step on the road to the tenth title of champion of France.