PARIS (Reuters) – Paris St Germain coach Christophe Galtier will keep a close eye on player fitness and manage squad rotation carefully, as the Ligue 1 side enters a congested run of fixtures that could make or break their season.
PSG will play six games in 16 days, with a last-16 French Cup clash against Olympique de Marseille and a last-16 Champions League tie against Bayern Munich next month.
The capital side only have a three-point lead over second-placed RC Lens in Ligue 1 and they have shown a worrying lack of creativity and aggressiveness in recent matches, losing two away games in a row in the league, against Lens and Stade Rennais.
“With a series of matches every three, four days starting newt week, we will have to be very vigilant in the way we deal with the squad, in terms of turnover and physical form,” Galtier said after PSG eased into the French Cup last 16 with a 7-0 thrashing of amateurs Pays de Cassel on Monday.
While it could be tempting to focus mainly on the Champions League – a trophy PSG have yet to win – Galtier said the club would not favour any game over others.
“Our ambition is to go all the way,” Galtier said when asked about the trip to Marseille, a week before they host Bayern.
“And for that we will have to knock OM out in a context that’s not easy in terms of match schedule.”
PSG start their run with three league games against Stade de Reims, Montpellier and Toulouse between Sunday and March 5, before their trip to OM, a Ligue 1 clash against Monaco and the Bayern Champions League first leg between Feb. 7-14.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
