FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Champions League - Round of 16 - First Leg - Paris St Germain v Liverpool - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - March 5, 2025 Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo
(Reuters) - Paris St Germain have a chance of winning Ligue 1 with seven games to spare if they win at Saint-Etienne and other results go their way this weekend, but coach Luis Enrique is keen to keep momentum going to help clinch more silverware.
Unbeaten PSG have a 19-point lead over second-placed Olympique de Marseille with eight matches to go as they stand on the verge of their fourth straight Ligue 1 title.
If PSG win, Marseille lose, and the next two teams in the standings, AS Monaco and Nice, drop points, that will ensure PSG's 11th league title since 2012-13, and the second straight crown under Luis Enrique.
"We're never champions until it's mathematically a foregone conclusion. But we're the best team in Ligue 1. We're going to use this moment so that these eight games can be used for more global objectives," Luis Enrique told reporters on Friday.
The Spaniard, who previously led Barcelona to a treble of LaLiga, Champions League and Spanish Cup titles in 2015, has an opportunity to repeat the feat this year.
"We need to be ready for the two or three months of competition," he said.
PSG, who lost to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals last season, will face Aston Villa in the two-leg quarter-finals of the continental competition next month, after a French Cup semi-final against Ligue 2 side Dunkerque.
Luis Enrique said PSG were fully motivated ahead of their visit to relegation-threatened Saint-Etienne who sit 17th in the table, one point below Le Havre who have played a game more.
Saint-Etienne were closing in on their first win since January when they were 2-0 up at bottom side Montpellier on March 16, but the match was abandoned after home fans threw flares onto the pitch and part of a stand caught fire.
"We're playing away against a historic French club. There's a very powerful atmosphere in the stadium. We love these atmospheres of football and passionate people. It's very motivating for us. I hope there won't be any problems," Luis Enrique said.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
