Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc on Saturday hit out at the decision to schedule his side’s crunch clash with Marseille, known as the Classique, for the weekend immediately after an international break.
“To play the Classique after this international break is not the best of ideas. I only had the whole squad available yesterday, including two Argentinians who came back yesterday morning with their heads all over the place,” Blanc said ahead of Sunday night’s showdown.
“There is nothing we can do about it. They did three laps of the pitch.”
PSG had 10 first-team regulars away with their countries over the last week, including Argentina’s Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore, who were involved in friendly matches in the United States.
“A match like this deserves a week’s preparation. Everyone’s expecting great football and goals in a game like this, but I don’t think the players will be in the best condition, especially the South Americans.
“It’s a shame, but I think a little more coherence would have allowed the game to be scheduled on another date.”
The game at the Stade Velodrome, the biggest fixture in French football, could be crucial in determining who goes on to win the Ligue 1 title.
PSG started the weekend a point clear of Lyon at the top of the table, with Marseille another point back in third.
“Given how open the league is, one can imagine that the very last match will be decisive. This will be an important game between two contenders for the title but there are only three points at stake,” Blanc said.
“We need to hold on to first place. When you are first, if you don’t slip up you have your destiny in your hands. With eight games left it is not a bad position to be in.”
Brazilian winger Lucas, who has not played since mid-February, will again be missing for Paris but everyone else is available.
This will be the first of eight games in the next 24 days for Paris, who had wanted next Wednesday’s French Cup semi-final against Saint-Etienne to be postponed until a later date but saw their request rejected.
They face Bastia in the League Cup final next Saturday and then take on Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on April 15.