What: French Ligue 1
Who: Montpellie vs Paris Saint- Germain
When: Sunday 11th November, 2012, at 20:00 UK Time
Where: Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France
Time To Move On
Montpellier coach Rene Girard said it best after his team were knocked out of the Champions League this week following defeat in Greece to Olympiacos. “We have to clear our minds and move on”, he said, adding that “it is not that bad to immediately face a big club.” That big club happen to be PSG, perhaps Europe’s richest, who Montpellier so bravely and cheekily pipped to the title last season.
But the memories of that remarkable triumph are fading fast amid a disappointing start to the season. The Champions League adventure has been fun, but it was never going to last that long. Now that it is over, sober reality returns to Montpellier. Lying 14th in the league, their position is now an accurate reflection of their budget relative to their Ligue 1 rivals, and the south coast side have made a swift return to the below mid-table spot they came from so unexpectedly last season.
No one expected another title tilt, though the team did hope to be doing a bit better than this – their worst start to a season in a decade. Striker Olivier Giroud is long gone, but the rest of the squad are mostly the same, with even a number of additions. The talent is there, but getting the team to fulfil their potential once again is now Girard’s challenge. And it starts now against the team most likely to pick up the mantle of champions from them at the season’s end.
Zlatan-less Parisians Come Under Pressure
Just as everything seemed to be clicking into gear for the seemingly inevitable charge to the Ligue 1 title, Christophe Galtier and his Saint-Etienne side arrived in Paris and took all three points, ending an unbeaten start to the season for Carlo Ancelotti’s men. PSG now have to get their domestic campaign back on track without the league’s top scorer, Swedish sensation Zlatan Ibrahimovic, sent off against Les Verts for attempting to beat the goalkeeper to the ball with a kung fu kick.
Now, with Lyon and Marseille breathing down their necks, there may be a genuine fight for the title. The serene progress PSG have made in the Champions League should have restored morale going into this weekend’s game, but the absence of Ibrahimovic – who set up all four goals against Dinamo Zagreb in midweek – will be keenly felt.
To emphasise his importance, Kevin Gameiro is the next top scorer with three goals and with the former Lorient man still recovering from a back injury, PSG could take to the pitch with a team consisting of not a single player with more than one goal to his name so far this season. Ancelotti’s tendency to tinker has much to do with that, while the presence of a star like Ibrahimovic causes players to focus on playing around him, rather than seeking out other team-mates. Here, PSG will have to look elsewhere to collect all three points.
Recent form
Montpellier:
Montpellier 1-0 Bordeaux (31/10; Coupe de la Ligue)
Troyes 1-1 Montpellier (03/11; Ligue 1)
Olympiacos 3-1 Montpellier (06/11; Champions League)
Paris Saint-Germain:
Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Marseille (31/10; Coupe de la Ligue)
Paris Saint-Germain 1-2 Saint-Etienne (03/11; Ligue 1)
Paris Saint-Germain 4-0 Dinamo Zagreb (06/11; Champions League)
Key absences
Montpellier: John Utaka; Karim Ait Fana; Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa; Vitorino Hilton; Benjamin Stambouli
Paris Saint-Germain: Clement Chantome (doubt); Kevin Gameiro (doubt); Zlatan Ibrahimovic (suspended); Nene; Thiago Motta; Diego Lugano
Players to watch
Montpellier – Souleymane Camara: With a host of defensive problems to deal with, Montpellier will look to their attackers to make things happen and get something out of this game. Camara is the obvious threat – having struck five goals already this season. The pressure has been on him after Giroud’s departure and with Emmanuel Herrera struggling to find the net regularly since arriving from Chile. He will have faced few more difficult opponents in his career than Thiago Silva and all eyes will be on Camara for Montpellier’s hopes of taking anything from this game.
Paris Saint-Germain – Javier Pastore: When these two sides met on France’s south coast last season, the Parisians inflicted Montpellier’s only home loss of the campaign. The 3-0 victory was inspired by the brilliant Argentine Pastore, but his form has flicked between sublime and frustrating during his time in the French capital. After a promising start to the season he has endured a poor run of games once again, however with Ibrahimovic out and last season’s top scorer Nene also missing, the focus will be on the Argentine, whom the Parisians’ play is likely to go through when building attacks. If he is given the right service, his technical quality and creativity should cause problems for a weak Montpellier defence.
Match Prediction
Montpellier will be doubly relieved not to be facing Ibrahimovic as their central defence is decimated. Star defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa is completing a five match ban, their next best centre back Victorino Hilton is out, while Benjamin Stambouli is also injured. That means Daniel Congre may have to play in the centre alongside Abdelhamid El-Kaoutari, who has not started a league game for over a year.
Going forward, Montpellier can still cause trouble. Playmaker Younes Belhanda can dominate a game in midfield if afforded too much space and provides a constant goal threat. If he and Remy Cabella can get on the ball enough in this game, they can cause the Parisians problems and look to supply Herrera and Camara. However, that will be a tall task against Ancelotti’s side, who have the best defensive record in Ligue 1.
PSG should be able to dominate in the centre, with the energetic Blaise Matuidi helping out Marco Verratti, the Italian who has shone so far this season. The front three may consist of Pastore and Jeremy Menez, another in good form, behind Guillaume Hoarau. They should enjoy enough of the ball to get at the weakened Montpellier defence and despite none of their players aside from Ibrahimovic scoring more than three goals so far this season, should have enough to claim an important win. Montpellier 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain.
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