PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique is weighing up how many players to rest for Saturday’s home game against mid-table Lorient in Ligue 1.
PSG has yet to secure the French title but has a massive game on Wednesday, the return fixture of an intense Champions League semifinal against Bayern Munich, which finished 5-4 to titleholder PSG in an extraordinary first leg on Tuesday.
“Every match is different and presents its own challenges. We have to take everything into consideration,” Luis Enrique said Friday. “I need to speak to the players individually. It’s not easy, it’s like playing Tetris. We have to win the three points and manage to get the players back for the most important match of the season.”
PSG has a six-point lead over second-placed Lens with four games remaining but still has to travel to its closest pursuer on May 13.
The high-scoring showdown against Bayern left players from both sides exhausted, with PSG right back Achraf Hakimi sustaining a thigh injury which rules him out for several weeks.
“Bayern is the hardest opponent I’ve faced with PSG. It was the most physically intense game of the season, and emotionally there was also more fatigue,” Luis Enrique said. “(Hakimi) is a machine who always plays at an incredible level, it’s like having three players. Unfortunately he won’t be in Munich but we are serene.”
Warren Zaïre-Emery is likely to switch from midfield, to fill in for Hakimi at right back, and Luis Enrique can ill afford for him to get injured too.
That’s even more the case for goalkeeper Matvei Safonov, given that backup Lucas Chevalier is also out injured.
Luis Enrique needs Safonov against Bayern and may hand a first league start to 19-year-old goalie Renato Marin, who joined from Roma last summer and is highly rated.
Spain midfielder Fabián Ruiz could start against Lorient after recently returning from a knee injury sustained against Sporting Lisbon in January.
“Fabian is an incredible player for us, one of the best midfielders in the world,” Luis Enrique said. “Tomorrow is a good time to get some more playing time.”
PSG will all but seal the title if it beats ninth-placed Lorient and Lens loses at Nice later on Saturday. ___
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