While PSG will host Metz Saturday night, Monaco will travel to Lens, the Ligue 1 leader, a few hours earlier. With a weakened squad? It's highly likely since two starters are suspended and two others are uncertain.

Before meeting next Wednesday in the Champions League return playoff at the Parc des Princes, PSG and Monaco will play Saturday in Ligue 1, respectively against Metz (last place) at the Parc des Princes and against Lens (leader) at the Bollaert. If Luis Enrique should rotate heavily without this seemingly harming his team, given the gap in level, Sebastien Pocognoli cannot send a B team to Lens, or he will have a very bad time.

Monaco will nevertheless be diminished at Bollaert, since in addition to its dozen injured players, two usual starters will be suspended: Brazilian right-back Vanderson and Russian attacking midfielder Aleksandr Golovin. The first will thus be able to rest ahead of the return against PSG, while the second will be suspended in Paris after being sent off in the first leg.

Hurt in Nantes last week, but ultimately starting Tuesday night against PSG, Maghnes Akliouche did not train this Thursday and could well be preserved Saturday. "He is uncertain, still due to his awkward movement against Nantes," the Monégasque coach confided this Thursday in a press conference before adding that his captain, Denis Zakaria, is also uncertain due to the fixture congestion and his injury history." "We'll see what it is after tomorrow's session, but we need to be careful," he warned.

Sebastien Pocognoli will, however, recover Thilo Kehrer for the Lens match, who was ill against PSG Tuesday, and probably also Ansu Fati, who "will potentially be back, but he also needs to test himself." Finally, the Monégasque coach announced that his central defender Christian Mawissa should return to competition "next week," even if it is not guaranteed he will do so as early as Wednesday against PSG.

The Lens match is certainly not easy for Monaco, which absolutely must move up in the Ligue 1 standings (Monaco is 8th, 9 points behind 4th place) while keeping the return match against PSG in mind. So, does Pocognoli plan to rotate on Saturday at Bollaert? "We try to make the best decisions to be as consistent as possible over the medium term," the Belgian responded. "That's been the case since I arrived here, in a dynamic where we had to manage injured players who had relapses for some, so we need to be careful about that history. But we also try to give the best possible load in training, in relation to mental recovery as well. We need to know how to find a middle ground based on the work required to prepare for the match. I think the second half of the season will also focus on this mental aspect, so we're working on it. We need to remain optimistic and positive, because that's the best key for me, to keep going in the best way."

If he didn't really answer the question, Pocognoli, however, explained how he and his staff managed the aftermath of the defeat against PSG: "There was a double feeling after the match, because the way of approaching it was right and the players were in what we wanted to do. We were playing on paper against a very strong team, and despite everything, there were regrets regarding the match's flow. So it was a mix of hope, pride, and disappointment. Then it's up to us when entering the locker room to choose a side, and the staff must give that momentum. We decided to dot the i's regarding what disappointed us, before moving directly on to what was coming, because for me the mental switch to the positive side was very important to make."

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