Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc is hoping his side’s Champions League exertions do not work against them in Sunday’s top of the table clash with bitter rivals Marseille.
PSG will head into the biggest grudge match in French football with the pressure on as they trail the Ligue 1 leaders by four points.
And while Blanc’s men were busy securing their place in the Champions League knockout stage with two games to spare in Group F by defeating Apoel of Cyprus 1-0 at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday thanks to Edinson Cavani’s early strike, Marseille have no European distractions this season.
When asked if his team had set themselves up perfectly for Sunday’s encounter by maintaining their unbeaten record this season and making it five wins on the bounce in all competitions, Blanc suggested that the Apoel performance could work against them.
“Is playing a Champions League match on a Wednesday ideal preparation for a ‘Clasico’ on a Sunday? I don’t know,” said the former Marseille defender.
“Winning is always better than losing or drawing, it helps you recover better.
“Marseille will come here with an ambitious mindset after the start they have had to the season, but we will approach the match in the same way.”
Despite being undefeated three months into the campaign, too many draws allowed Marseille to pull away at the top, with PSG saving their best performance so far for their Champions League win against Barcelona at the end of September.
“We have dropped points in games this season but the fact we are playing in the Champions League has prevented us from picking up as many as we maybe deserve,” added Blanc.
“It’s certainly an advantage for Marseille, and the more games you play the more you expose yourself to the risk of picking up injuries.”
PSG have been without their biggest asset, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, for the last seven weeks as the Swede battles to recover from a heel injury.
He watched the victory over Apoel from the stands and Blanc was cautious when asked if his star centre-forward might return this weekend.
“I can’t answer that, honestly. I said last week it is a very unusual injury but he has made good progress in the last few days.
“I think we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. He has started training and running, and if that progress continues in the coming days, everything is possible.”
In Ibrahimovic’s absence, more responsibility falls on the shoulders of Cavani, who scored his fourth goal in his last four appearances to put PSG ahead after just 57 seconds against Apoel and hit the post soon after, but also squandered several other openings.
“Strikers go through spells where they get the breaks. The goal was probably his least easy chance,” said Blanc.
“He is a boy who scores goals and always will, but he lacks confidence.”
PSG’s next Champions League outing is at home to Ajax at the end of this month, with December’s trip to Barcelona – whose 2-0 win in Amsterdam on Wednesday also took them through – likely to decide who goes through to the last 16 as winners of Group F.
“We needed the three points to be sure of going through. Now let’s try to confirm our ambition and finish first, which is an advantage – a small one, but an advantage all the same,” said Blanc.
Apoel are bottom of the group with only one point but could yet pip Ajax to third and the consolation of a place in the Europa League knockout stage.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. The Intruder
Director: Deon Taylor
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good
One star
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
One in four Americans don't plan to retire
Nearly a quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals' retirement plans and the realities of ageing in the workforce.
Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they'd like.
According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, 23 per cent of workers, including nearly two in 10 of those over 50, don't expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.
According to government data, about one in five people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June. The study surveyed 1,423 adults in February this year.
For many, money has a lot to do with the decision to keep working.
"The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn't gone up that much," says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. "So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement."
When asked how financially comfortable they feel about retirement, 14 per cent of Americans under the age of 50 and 29 per cent over 50 say they feel extremely or very prepared, according to the poll. About another four in 10 older adults say they do feel somewhat prepared, while just about one-third feel unprepared.
"One of the things about thinking about never retiring is that you didn't save a whole lot of money," says Ronni Bennett, 78, who was pushed out of her job as a New York City-based website editor at 63.
She searched for work in the immediate aftermath of her layoff, a process she describes as akin to "banging my head against a wall." Finding Manhattan too expensive without a steady stream of income, she eventually moved to Portland, Maine. A few years later, she moved again, to Lake Oswego, Oregon. "Sometimes I fantasise that if I win the lottery, I'd go back to New York," says Ms Bennett.
The Vines - In Miracle Land
Two stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
