PSG request granted vs Liverpool despite furious row as Reds at major disadvantage | Football | Sport

Paris Saint-Germain have succeeded in their bid to postpone a Ligue 1 fixture that sits between their Champions League quarter-final matches against Liverpool. PSG were scheduled to face Lens on April 11, but the French title encounter will now be rearranged despite fury from their rivals. PSG submitted a formal application to the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) for the fixture to be rescheduled for later in the campaign and the contentious decision has been taken to grant it.

It’s not the first time the club have made a similar appeal, requesting that their match against Nantes be moved between their last 16 tie against Chelsea. The first leg of the quarter-final between Liverpool and PSG will occur at the Parc des Princes on April 8. The second leg at Anfield will take place just under a week afterwards, on April 14. Between those fixtures, the Reds face a Premier League encounter against Fulham at Anfield. That game will be played on the same day PSG were scheduled to face Lens.

It means the Reds face a significant disadvantage in a tie they were already seen as underdogs. The Reds were eliminated by PSG, who went on to win the Champions League, last season. And Arne Slot‘s team have regressed considerably since then.

In response to PSG’s request to postpone the match, Lens issued a robust statement. “On March 6, the scheduling of the match pitting Racing Club de Lens against Paris Saint-Germain was finalised, formalising a framework to which everyone was then invited to adhere,” it read.

“In a spirit of responsibility and restraint, Racing Club de Lens, from the very first requests, made it known to Paris Saint-Germain its intention not to see this date changed. True to a certain idea of sporting stability, the club had also chosen to refrain from any public communication on this subject.

“However, the recent proliferation of statements, interventions, and various suggestions now leads us to break from this reserve. It does indeed appear to us that a troubling sentiment is taking hold: that of a French championship gradually relegated to the status of an adjustment variable at the whim of the European imperatives of some.

“However, the recent proliferation of statements, interventions, and various suggestions now leads us to break from this reserve. It does indeed appear to us that a troubling sentiment is taking hold: that of a French championship gradually relegated to the status of an adjustment variable at the whim of the European imperatives of some.

“It would therefore be understood that the tenth budget in the championship should adapt to the demands of the most powerful, in the name of interests that, evidently, now extend beyond the domestic framework, which has already been lightened in recent seasons (L1 reduced to 18 clubs, discontinuation of the Coupe de la Ligue).

“Beyond this particular case, the question raised is more fundamental: that of the respect due to the competition itself. For it is permissible to wonder when, on its own soil, the championship sometimes seems relegated behind other ambitions, however legitimate they may be.

“Racing Club de Lens remains committed to equity, the clarity of rules, and respect for all stakeholders. Simple principles, for a loyal and respected French football.”