PSG’s Bid Rejected As Lens Stand Firm In Ligue 1 Title Race

‎Lens has rejected a request from Paris Saint‑Germain to postpone their April 11 top-of-the-table Ligue 1 clash.

‎PSG had asked for the delay to gain extra preparation time before their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool. The reigning European champions will host Liverpool three days before facing Lens, ahead of the return leg at Anfield on April 14.

‎Liverpool, meanwhile, are also in domestic action ‌that weekend, hosting Fulham in the Premier League on April 11 the date ‌on which PSG were due to face Lens.

‎Paris Saint-Germain sits one point ahead of Lens at the top of Ligue 1, with Luis Enrique’s side still holding a game in hand.

‎The Ligue de Football Professionnel confirmed that PSG formally requested a postponement of the fixture, but Lens firmly rejected the proposal.

‎Meanwhile, Strasbourg has also asked to delay their match against Brest as they prepare for a Europa Conference League quarter-final meeting with Mainz.

‎”In a spirit of responsibility and restraint, Racing Club de Lens made it clear to Paris Saint-Germain, from ​the very first enquiries, that it did not wish to see this date changed…,” Lens said in a statement on Monday.

‎”It seems to us, in ⁠fact, that a worrying ​sentiment is taking hold: that of a French league gradually being relegated to the status of an adjustment variable at the whim of certain parties’ European imperatives.

‎”A peculiar conception of sporting fairness, for which it is difficult to find ‌an equivalent in other major continental competitions,”

‎Lens said the dispute raised wider questions about the status of domestic competition.

‎”Beyond this specific case, the question raised is a more fundamental one that of the respect due to the competition itself. For one is entitled to wonder when, on its own turf, the league sometimes seems to be relegated to second place behind other ambitions, however legitimate they may be,” the club added.

‎PSG First Request

‎Paris Saint-Germain received a similar accommodation earlier this season during their Champions League round-of-16 tie against Chelsea, when their Ligue 1 match against Nantes was postponed. The change granted PSG a five-day rest period between the two legs.

‎”Any changes to the fixture list ‌fall exclusively within the remit of the French football authorities, in accordance with the rules in force and the principle of fairness between clubs,” a source close to PSG told Reuters.

‎”In this context, PSG and Strasbourg have requested that their match be rescheduled to ⁠prepare as effectively as possible for ⁠this key fixture of their ‌season.”