Paris Saint Germain vs Toulouse - PSG can't afford any league let-up

Posted Saturday, February 18, 2017 by PA

Paris St Germain can close within a point of Ligue 1 leaders Monaco by following up their Champions League heroics with victory over Toulouse.

Unai Emery's side return to domestic action on Sunday after a brilliant performance in midweek, Angel Di Maria scoring twice as the home side thrashed Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

And they can pile the pressure on Monaco with a seventh league win in eight games after Leonardo Jardim's side had to come from behind to earn a point against Bastia on Friday evening.

PSG, who are aiming to win the French championship for a fifth successive year, may not have it all their own way against Toulouse, who have taken seven points from their last three games after losing the previous four in succession.

Toulouse also won the reverse fixture 2-0 earlier this season and midfielder Adrien Rabiot is taking nothing for granted at the Parc des Princes.

"We're getting back to more regular duties, but that doesn't mean it will be any simpler," Rabiot told PSG TV.

"We know perfectly well that it will be complicated right up to the end of the season and that we cannot afford to give an inch.

"It's good for everyone to stay under pressure and to play at this level. It's completely clear that, on Sunday, we need to get the win."

Toulouse coach Pascal Dupraz was unsurprisingly impressed by what he saw from PSG in midweek, but insisted his side would not simply sit back and defend in Paris.

"I saw with Paris St Germain the look of a team playing with enormous energy," Dupraz said on the club's website. "They defended each centimetre of the field, unlike their opponents. We will have to be as precise defensively, and (play) with intensity.

"But I do not want to see my team defend for 90 minutes. This is not my approach to football.

"The current fashion is to pass the ball sideways to deprive your opponent the ball. Let's go against the fashion, let's project quickly towards the opposite goal, as at the beginning of the season."