Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais will meet on Monday night with first place on the line after their Ligue 1 fixture was pushed back by 24 hours because of planned demonstrations in the French capital.
The match had been scheduled for Sunday but was postponed on the orders of the police prefecture. Kick-off at the Parc des Princes is now set for 20:45, with PSG and Lyon level on points at the top of the table.
Fonseca prepares Lyon for a defensive test
Lyon coach Paulo Fonseca said his side will travel to Paris highly motivated, while making no attempt to disguise the scale of the task against Luis Enrique’s team.
“They are the best team in the world,” Fonseca said. “We will need to be perfect, especially defensively, because it is extremely difficult to face this side. We will not have much of the ball. It is also a tactical challenge for us.”
The Portuguese coach’s assessment comes after another striking European week for PSG. The Paris side won 4-2 away at Manchester City before beating Barcelona 4-2 at the Parc des Princes in the Champions League.
Tolisso impressed by PSG’s European form
Lyon captain Corentin Tolisso said those performances had underlined PSG’s current level, particularly the manner of their victories over two major European opponents.
“When you see how they beat two of Europe’s best teams, and the way they did it, it is impossible not to be impressed,” Tolisso said.
The midfielder said Lyon would be satisfied to come away from Paris with a positive result. He also believes PSG have the quality to retain the Champions League again, having won the competition in each of the previous two seasons.
“They have won the Champions League twice and are now chasing a third in a row,” Tolisso said. “If they continue playing like this, they can achieve it.”
