Paris Saint-Germain have been successful in their request to postpone the Ligue 1 match against Lens, giving the club a free weekend between their Champions League games against Liverpool.
The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) granted the request of the French champions to postpone the top-of-the-table game, which had been scheduled for Saturday April 11.
The unanimous decision was taken to move the fixture as it was scheduled to take place between PSG’s two Champions League quarter-final legs against Liverpool, on Wednesday April 8 and Tuesday April 14.
The LFP have previously said they would always look to help French clubs in European competitions. PSG were also granted the weekend off between their two games against Chelsea in the previous round of the competition.
The LFP have also moved Strasbourg’s league game at Brest, originally scheduled for the same weekend, as Gary O’Neil’s side play Mainz in the Conference League quarter- final.
PSG’s opponents, Liverpool, will play Fulham on April 11 at 5.30pm BST. Ahead of the first leg, Liverpool also play on Saturday April 4 in the FA Cup away to Manchester City, while PSG have a home Ligue 1 match against Toulouse on Friday April 3.
There is just one point separating league leaders PSG and second-place Lens in Ligue 1, while PSG also have one game in hand.
Lens are chasing the club’s second league title and first since 1998.
The match between the league’s top two sides will now take place on Wednesday May 13, ahead of the final game of the season on May 16, the LFP confirmed.
In a statement on Tuesday night, Lens expressed their anger at the proposal.
They said: “It now appears that a concerning sentiment is beginning to take hold: that the French championship is gradually being reduced to an adjustment variable depending on the European commitments of certain clubs.
“It would therefore be understood that the tenth-largest budget in the league should adapt to the demands of the most powerful, in the name of interests that now clearly extend beyond the domestic framework — one that has already been reduced in recent seasons (Ligue 1 has been reduced from 20 to 18 clubs, while the Coupe de la Ligue was also discontinued).
“Beyond this specific case, the question raised is more fundamental: that of the respect owed to the competition itself. It is reasonable to question matters when, on its own soil, the league sometimes appears secondary to other ambitions, however legitimate they may be.”
Earlier, Lens head coach Pierre Sage told The Athletic he thought it was “impossible” to move the match.
In response, PSG’s sporting director Luis Campos told RMC Sport on Wednesday how they would have rather played the two ties Tuesday-Wednesday (rather than the first leg on Wednesday and the return on Tuesday), in which case they would not have asked for the match to be moved.
“Liverpool cannot play on April 15 because it is a tragic date (the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster) and we respected that,” he added.
He also pointed out how this was not unique to French football as Portuguese sides, including Sporting Club and Braga, were both given the weekend off between their round- of-16 European matches.
He also claimed it benefited French football as a whole, as the deeper French clubs went in European competitions, the better the country’s UEFA co-efficient ranking. France is currently sixth this season, behind Italy and Portugal.
In their statement on Thursday, shared with The Athletic, the LFP said: “These decisions are part of the board’s strategic approach to help France maintain its fifth place in the UEFA co-efficient rankings, which grants four spots in the Champions League.”
The LFP also said the decision was “accompanied by a proposal made to Lens to adjust its schedule by moving forward their match against Nantes (matchday 33) to Friday May 8, in the event PSG qualifies for the semi-finals of the Champions League.”
Prior to facing Chelsea earlier this month, PSG had been set to play Nantes, who are in a relegation battle, that weekend and their fans were unhappy about the game being moved.
At their next game, posters were distributed by supporters that showed their owner, Waldemar Kita, polishing PSG owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi’s shoes, as reported by RMC Sport.
That match has now been moved to April 20, where Nantes have three games in a week that will be crucial to their survival hopes.