Ligue 1: Losc coach Christophe Galtier "thinks that PSG will win the next three games"

On Friday evening, on paper, one of the most beautiful derbies in the North will be played at the Bollaert stadium.

Lens, clinging to its fifth place, synonymous with qualifying for the Europa League next season, receives the Lille leader, three games from a new coronation, ten years later.

The meeting, “always special”, will be “very, very important” this time, Losc coach Christophe Galtier said at a press conference this Thursday at noon.

“I think Paris will win the next three games.

So if we want to stay ahead, we will have to win the next three games, ”he conceded, not convinced that the elimination of PSG in the Champions League semi-finals against Manchester City“ will leave traces ”.

"They are used to fighting to play all the trophies."

Pressure, but not too much

On the Lille side, "it will be necessary to be cold", according to him.

“Not calm because we must not fall asleep.

But lucid, ”he added, while refusing to overwhelm his players under pressure.

A balancing act, at the risk of contradicting oneself ...

A little earlier, he said in fact that this duel against Lens would be "important" but "not decisive". And said to hope that regional rivalry does not take precedence over "the issue of the result". “Automatically, the players integrated it […] but there is nothing that changes in our preparation. We remain very focused on our game, on our strengths and weaknesses ”.

Christophe Galtier also refused to comment on the statements of the lensois playmaker Gaël Kakuta.

The day before, the native of Lille, but pure product of La Gaillette, had said, with a smile on his lips, that he preferred to see PSG finish champion on May 23.

“It's a derby phrase.

God knows I've been through it.

It's part of the packaging, part of the folklore.

The most important thing is that it takes place of course on the ground so that there are no overflows on the outside, ”he said.

In passing, comparing this regional shock to the Lyon-Saint-Etienne derby, opposing “the mining town” to “the great metropolis”.

Read also Now, PSG is counting ... on Lens

On the way there, last October 18, the Losc had run over its 40 km neighbor. A 4-0 victory which, according to him, pushed the opposing coach, Franck Haise, to modify his game plan thereafter. “Franck surely used this meeting to bring more security to the heart of the game […] Apart from his total football, and his commitment, Lens poses a lot of problems at the tactical level. We worked a lot this week to thwart their strengths ”. In case of victory, Racing Club de Lens, back in Ligue 1 after five years of absence, could put an end to 14 years of famine in the derby.