PSG ready for league
paris — After criticising his team for a flat performance in the Champions League in midweek, Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc will be expecting much better when Nice visit the Parc des Princes on Saturday.
PSG missed out on the chance to seal qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League after drawing 1-1 with Anderlecht on Tuesday, but the result did ensure that they remain unbeaten in all competitions this season and now they will look to maintain a gap down to Lille and Monaco at the top of the Ligue 1 standings.
It is nearly a year since the club from the capital lost a home game, and they should on paper have enough to beat mid-table Nice, who have lost three of their last four matches. Blanc is expected to wel- come back Edinson Cavani, who has scored nine league goals this season but missed the Anderlecht encounter due to a minor injury, while skipper Thiago Silva should also feature after returning from more than a month out in the midweek draw.
“I wanted him to participate but I had hoped he would do so in different circumstances,” said Blanc.
“But if we wanted him to play against Nice, he needed to come on against Anderlecht.”
Nice have problems in goal, with Colombian international David Ospina missing for six weeks with a knee injury and his regular back-up Mouez Hassen also missing. —