Paris Saint-Germain cannot confirm their status as Ligue 1 champions this weekend. They can consign relegation-threatened AC Ajaccio to their fate. When they welcome the 18th-placed outfit to the Parc des Princes on Saturday evening.
Christophe Galtier’s men responded to more off-field drama with a convincing 3-1 success at Troyes last weekend. While their visitors claimed a creditable 0-0 draw against Coupe de France winners Toulouse.
Preview: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Ajaccio – prediction, team news, lineups
Not for the first time this season and potentially not the last, the PSG soap opera threatened to derail the champions’ final push for glory, as Les Parisiens sent out a strong message that no player is above the club when suspending Lionel Messi for an unauthorised journey to Saudi Arabia.
A noticeably depleted and Messi-less PSG squad travelled to the Stade de l’Aube with the intention of righting the wrongs from the 3-1 home defeat to Lorient the previous weekend, and the Argentina hero’s absence was hardly felt, as strikes from Kylian Mbappe, Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz propelle the champions to a comfortable success – Xavier Chavalerin heade home a consolation for the visitors thanks to some questionable Gianluigi Donnarumma goalkeeping.
Preview: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Ajaccio – prediction, team news, lineups
With Lens coming up trumps in their podium showdown with Marseille and thus leapfrogging them in the table. PSG hold a six-point over Les Sang et Or with four games left to play. Although their advantage could be cut down to three if Lens do the business against Reims on Saturday.
Alternatively, slip-ups from their two challengers could move PSG to within one point of title glory, but the walls of the Parc des Princes fortress have almost fully disintegrated in recent weeks, as Galtier’s men have shockingly lost three of their last four home games.
Preview: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Ajaccio – prediction, team news, lineups
The holders have also failed to keep a clean sheet in nine successive matches in front of their own fans since a 2-0 success over already-relegated Angers back in January, but the visit of a shot-shy Ajaccio represents a prime opportunity to restore some defensive order.
Taking on a Toulouse outfit who had ruthlessly put five past then-holders Nantes in the Coupe de France final would seemingly only end one way for Ajaccio, who only enjoyed 39% possession and faced 14 shots on goal at the Stade Francois-Coty.
However, Olivier Pantaloni’s beleaguered defence remained intact to glean a well-earned point from the visit of Les Violets, and while defeat would not have consigned them to their fate, that goalless draw has only delaye the inevitable as well.
Even if L’ours managed to add to PSG’s ever-increasing tally of home defeats, the division’s worst attacking side would need a major swing in goal difference in the final few weeks of the season, and facing Rennes, Lens and Marseille in their final three matches should mean that preparations for a 2023-24 promotion push are already well underway.
Pantaloni’s team head to the Parc des Princes on a nine-game winless run in the top flight – failing to score in each of their last three and losing six on the bounce on the road – and it will come as little surprise to learn that PSG ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at the Stade Francois-Coty earlier this season.
