PSG host Lille with Champions League showdown on the horizon

Luis Enrique's side are 13 points clear in Ligue 1 and sailing towards an 11th title in 13 seasons. They also reached the French Cup semi-finals on Wednesday with a 7-0 rout of fourth-tier Stade Briochin.

The next two weeks though will go a long way to determining how PSG's season is truly judged, given the club has dominated French football since its Qatari takeover in 2011.

Paris host Liverpool next Wednesday at the Parc des Princes and then travel to Anfield for the second leg six days later, in a tie described by Luis Enrique as "extremely attractive".

But the runaway Premier League leaders will present PSG with their most challenging test of the campaign, and Arne Slot's players are set to be well rested after having the weekend off as a result of their early exit from the FA Cup.

That was an issue raised by Lille, who unsuccessfully tried to get their trip to the capital rearranged ahead of their meeting with Borussia Dortmund next Tuesday.

"My only regret is that the Champions League last 16 has been scheduled for a long time," said Lille coach Bruno Genesio. "So either we didn't believe in French clubs qualifying for the last 16, or perhaps there was another way of doing things and not scheduling a Lille-PSG game three days before the first leg of a Champions League tie."

He added: "It might have been a bit smarter if we'd thought a bit further ahead." Lille's form has dipped somewhat since a 21-game unbeaten run was ended by Liverpool last month, with winger Edon Zhegrova still sidelined by a groin injury that was initially misdiagnosed and has kept him out since mid-December.

 

February 27, 2025

They will also have to contend with Ousmane Dembele, the league's top scorer with 17 goals - 12 of which have come in his last seven starts. Lille captain Benjamin Andre, who played with a teenage Dembele at Rennes, said he was not surprised by his former team-mate's transformation into a prolific scorer.

"Every time he played, he scored," Andre said of Dembele's 2015-16 season at Rennes which led to a move to Dortmund. "He had incredible skills, but a mindset that was a bit out of place in football because he's a bit crazy, very jovial, a bit disconnected.

"He just needed things to click. Once that happens, he's an extraordinary player, he's two-footed, has great instinct. His finishing was just a matter of time."

Marseille host Nantes on Sunday attempting to shake off a 3-0 defeat by Auxerre, with club president Pablo Longoria serving the start of a 15-match ban for claiming his club were victims of "corruption".

Monaco will try to stop their downward spiral at home to out-of-sorts Reims on Friday. Lyon host Brest on Sunday and Habib Beye's resurgent Rennes go to bottom side Montpellier.

Fixtures (all times GMT)

Friday

Monaco v Reims (19.45)

Saturday

Saint-Etienne v Nice (16.00), Lens v Le Havre (18.00), Paris Saint-Germain (20.05)

Sunday

Lyon v Brest (14.00), Montpellier v Rennes, Auxerre v Strasbourg, Angers v Toulouse (16.15), Marseille v Nantes (19.45)