Paris Saint-Germain have no time to lick their wounds after exiting the Uefa Champions League in midweek as they resume battle at the top of Ligue 1.
PSG host Lille on Saturday and go into the match level on points with league leaders Lyon, although the capital club have a game in hand as they seek to defend their title.
But Lille will arrive at the Parc des Princes with strong European ambitions of their own and PSG cannot afford to feel sorry for themselves after a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
“We want to be champions, they want to qualify for Europe, so it’s an exciting match to play in and I hope we win on Saturday because we’re playing at home in front of our fans,” PSG right-back Serge Aurier told the club’s website. “Despite our loss in the Champions League, we want to win the league for our supporters, so no matter who we are playing, we want to be better than them, we want to win everything.”
Lille start the weekend down in eighth place, but only four points behind Bordeaux in sixth, the last of the European places.
Lille have won three in a row to boost their hopes.
“A wounded animal is always dangerous,” coach Rene Girard said. “We have to be cautious against Paris Saint-Germain. We will need to be at our best.
“Today we are two points behind Montpellier, and four behind Bordeaux. If we want to move forward, we have to take points.”
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