The 14th round of the French league kicked off as early as Friday with an intriguing game between Monaco and Lille, but tomorrow (Saturday) leader Paris Saint-Germain will return behind the national team when they host Nantes, just four days before the away game in the Champions League against Manchester City. In another meeting, Ran will host Montpellier.
Monaco – Night (Friday, 22:00)
While last year it was a meeting between the team from third place and the champion, this season the two teams are shuffling in the middle of the table, with each hoping to advance to the top at the expense of the opponent. The team from the Princesses has not won or scored in its last three games in all competitions, while the champion’s only victory in the last six games in all competitions came in the Champions League with a precious 1: 2 over Sevilla that raised it to second place at home.
Nico Kovac will have to make do without Alexander Golovin and Benoit in the sent-off Dashil, while veteran Cesc Fabregas will also be out due to injury. The champions also have no shortage of problems: Amado Onana is sent off, Sven Botman and Jonathan Bamba are injured, while Jonathan David and Timothy waa in doubt due to the late return from the national team backlog, where they played in the Canada and United States national teams respectively.
Paris Saint-Germain – Nantes (Saturday, 18:00)
The table leader wants to continue to maintain the double-digit gap at the top, which currently stands at 10 points from Lance II. Similar to the previous national team breaks this season, this time too PSG is expected to return from the break with a particularly partial staff. Although Neymar and Lionel Messi are included in Mauricio Pochettino’s final squad for the game, they may be absent from the squad to prepare for the game against Manchester City on Wednesday which could determine which of the two will end up at home in the Champions League. As you may recall, Neymar was injured during the break and even absent from the game against Argentina, while Messi is expected to get a rest after the guest return from South America and it seems that even if they play, it will be for quite a few minutes.
The one who came back late from the national team break but is still supposed to start at 11 is Angel Di Maria, who scored Argentina’s only goal in the last break. He is expected to start the attack along with Killian Ambape and Mauro Icardi, who in the two games before the break played a total of four minutes.
Contrary to early estimates, Sergio Ramos who has already returned to training is still unfit to play and his long-awaited debut at Paris Saint-Germain will have to wait, perhaps a ceiling in the game against City or the away game in about ten days against Saint-Etienne. Brazilian stopper Marcinius will also be absent. If she manages to beat Nantes from tenth place, it will be the first time since September that PSG has combined three consecutive league victories.
Another game on Saturday
Run – Montpellier (22:00)
Sunday games in the French league
Brest – Lance (14:00)
Angers – Lorian (16:00)
Metz – Bordeaux (16:00)
Strasbourg 0 Reims (16:00)
Troy – st. Etienne (16:00)
Clermont – Nice (18:00)
Lyon – Marseille (21:45)