As the Ligue 1 Uber Eats leaders attempt to advance toward a record 11th league title when they visit relegation challengers Ajaccio on Saturday (kickoff 9pm CEST), Lionel Messi is “very motivated” to make his return to Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi has helped PSG enter Round 35 with a gap between themselves and their closest rivals thanks to his league-high 15 assists and 15 goals. After serving a two-week suspension imposed by the club, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is back in the lineup, and coach Christophe Galtier is happy to have him.
“I spoke to Leo when he returned [to training on Monday]. I thought he was very calm, very motivated, very determined to win another trophy. Yes, Leo is going to start,” confirmed Galtier, who will partner the Argentina international up front with the division’s leading scorer Kylian Mbappé (24 goals), and potentially Hugo Ekitike following the young striker’s impressive display in Messi’s absence in last weekend’s 3-1 win at Troyes.
“In Troyes, the team expressed itself well in the system we put in place. By incorporating Leo, we’ll have to find an attacking set-up that works just as well.”
While Messi is back, Neymar, Nordi Mukiele, Presnel Kimpembe, and Nuno Mendes are all out, and Timothée Pembélé is a question mark as PSG looks to turn around their recent home performance, which has seen them lose three of their last four games. At Parc des Princes, Galtier anticipates that Ajaccio will adapt their own tactical system to the challenges of playing against his star-studded lineup.
“When you are at Paris Saint-Germain, you can analyse the opponent, but they often change their system when they come to the Parc des Princes. We are working on our principles, we have relied this week on what we did well in the last game against Troyes, with much more intensity in the recovery and a better quality of play,” he explained.
“The match against Ajaccio will be more crucial than decisive. That’s what I said about the Troyes game and that’s what I’ll repeat about the Ajaccio game. If we win on Saturday, we won’t be champions. The decisive matches will come later. But we have this great determination with one goal: the French league title.”
Even a repeat of their sole victory over PSG in their last eight league encounters, a 4-2 victory in Paris in May 2005, may not be enough to keep them in the top flight as third-from-bottom Ajaccio are 11 points from safety with just 12 games left to play.
If Ajaccio loses, they would undoubtedly be demoted to Ligue 2 for the fourth time, joining 1972–73, 2005–06, and 2013–14, and a 24th loss will set a regrettable club record.
“It’s very difficult for them to stay in Ligue 1, even if mathematically they are not relegated. But the players will come to the Parc des Princes free, without the pressure of getting a result,” said Galtier of the Corsican visitors, who are without Yoann Touzghar (suspended) and Algeria international Youcef Belaïli while Michaël Barretto is an ι𝚗jᴜгy doubt.
“There will simply be a desire to express themselves. With great exposure, the players who come to the Parc always want to perform. I expect a match where the other team will not give up. We’ll have to be very determined from the start of the match, so that we don’t let them settle into the game.”