The worldwide spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) has forced Paris Saint-Germain’s match against RC Strasbourg on Saturday at the Stade de la Meinau to be postponed.
In a press release from the Ligue de Football Professionnel, via Le Parisien, the match will be rescheduled for a later date.
“Following an order from the Bas-Rhin prefecture concerning the spread of the coronavirus, the RC Strasbourg – Paris Saint-Germain meeting is postponed to a later date.”
PSG didn’t hang around – less than 1 hour after discovering that their match vs Strasbourg tomorrow has been called off due to coronavirus concerns, they’re already on the way back to Paris. pic.twitter.com/H9LpxvIqDL
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) March 6, 2020
The match was going to be PSG’s final chance to fine-tune their team before next Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League fixture against Borussia Dortmund, which could also be impacted by the coronavirus. Even if the match isn’t going to be postponed, it’s possible that it could be played behind closed doors or Dortmund supporters could be banned from making the trip.
On the plus side, not having to play away at Strasbourg pretty much eliminates the possibility of Kylian Mbappé, Neymar Jr., or any of PSG’s other starters from picking up an injury. After the 2-1 loss to Dortmund in the first leg of the Round of 16 tie, manager Thomas Tuchel complained about having to play more games than Dortmund in the lead-up. Now, PSG will have a full seven-day break between matches with their last match being the 5-1 win over Olympique Lyonnais in the semi-final of the Coupe de France last Wednesday.
No excuses now for Tuchel and PSG. It’s time to focus on Dortmund with or without the fans and get the job done.
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So it’s a good news