Paul, Sylvain Armand, is not in the squad…
"I decided to call him up. I decided to wait a little longer. It was my choice. He can make his comeback, either against Dynamo Kiev on Thursday night or against Le Havre next Sunday. I'm not surprised that he's made such a rapid recovery because our medical staff is very good. Eric Rolland is a knee specialist so I listen to what he has to say. For the moment, everything's going as he predicted."

Is this match the most important of the season?
“To stay in the hunt for the title, this match is very important. It also comes after defeats to Marseille and Toulouse, to direct rivals for the crown. Lille are another direct rival so this match is very, very important.”

Since the start of the return matches, PSG is finding it harder against its direct rivals. How do you explain this?
“The circumstances are different. During my post-match comments, after those wins, I always said things had gone our way and that we had a little luck. Things haven’t necessarily gone our way and we haven’t had that bit of luck in certain return matches. We’ve also had a series of very tough matches. There are always a host of reasons for certain results.”

What do you think of this Lille squad?
“If you look at their squad, Lille have a huge potential. They are well-armed for fighting at the top of the table. I’m not surprised to see them so high up the table. They have good players all over the park, they’re really strong. Take their regular starters in attack – it’s not bad. Obraniak, Bastos and then their choice of Frau, Vittek or De Melo. Everyone talks a lot about their midfield, but the rest is equally good.”

So a draw wouldn’t be that bad a result...
“It all depends on how the match goes. Lille didn’t play on Thursday... we did. The amount of energy we spent taking on Dynamo Kiev could be an important factor. We’ve given our players every possible chance to recover. We’ve won a lot of away matches this season, so we’ll be going there to win.”