Initially scheduled for this weekend, the match between PSG and FC Nantes has been postponed to allow the Rouge et Bleu to best prepare for their Champions League round of 16 second leg. And this is not the first time the league has postponed matches to favor the progress of French clubs in European competitions.
The decision has greatly divided French soccer. On Feb. 28, the LFP formalized the postponement of the match between PSG and FC Nantes, counting for matchday 27 of Ligue 1.
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Initially scheduled for this weekend, this match will be played on April 20. This postponement aims to allow PSG to best prepare for their Champions League round of 16 second leg at Chelsea on March 17.
Indeed, only six days separate the two confrontations against the English club. Thus, Luis Enrique’s players will have the entire weekend to prepare for this match against the Blues.
However, this postponement is vigorously debated. But this is not the first time the league has postponed a Ligue 1 match to favor the progress of French clubs in European competitions. Indeed, this scheduling adjustment has been in place for a few years now.
“In 2003, the LFP Board of Directors granted, as early as October, the postponement of three matches scheduled for December involving clubs competing in the Champions League, namely Lyon, Marseille, and AS Monaco, future finalists. Before that, the European Cup was a source of numerous postponement requests in Ligue 1 McDonald’s. During the 2000s, it happened that clubs made requests based on recovery times between matches or on late returns of players following long European trips. Requests that at the time were not accepted by the LFP Competitions Commission,” Ligue 1 explains on its website.
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Last season, PSG had already seen their match against FC Nantes postponed to prepare for their Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Aston Villa. And this, “with the aim of favoring the progress of French clubs in European Cups, considering that improving France’s UEFA coefficient remains an essential objective,” the LFP had explained at the time. But other clubs besides PSG have also received this favor from the league. During the 2023-2024 season, the matches Lorient vs. PSG, Monaco vs. Lille, and Marseille vs. Nice, scheduled for matchday 29 of the championship, were shifted by about 10 days. They were initially scheduled for the weekend of April 13-14 and ultimately took place on Wednesday, April 24.
That same season, the Rouge et Bleu’s matchday 32 game was moved to matchdays 33 and 34 of Ligue 1. Also qualified for the Europa League semifinals, Marseille saw their match against Stade de Reims postponed between the last two matchdays of the championship. Finally, in 2019, the league adjusted Stade Rennais’ schedule. To best prepare for their Europa League round of 16 first leg against Arsenal, the Rennes vs. Nîmes match was shifted.
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