PSG’s Ligue 1 match with Lens has been postponed due to Liverpool Champions League quarter-final

Paris St-Germain’s French league match against Lens, which was due to take place between the two legs of their Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool, has been postponed.

The decision was made so that the defending champions could “prepare in the best conditions” for the tie.

Ligue One leaders PSG were due to visit second-placed Lens on Saturday, April 11 – three days after hosting Liverpool and three days before the second leg at Anfield.

Following PSG’s request to postpone the match, France’s Ligue de Football Professionel (LFP) agreed to move it to May 13.

RC Strasbourg’s Ligue 1 match at Stade Brestois on April 12 has also been moved to May 13 due to the French club’s Conference League quarter-final clash with Mainz.

The first leg will take place on April 9 in Mainz and the second leg on April 16 in Strasbourg.

“At the request of Paris St-Germain and RC Strasbourg to prepare in the best conditions for their respective quarter-finals, the board of the LFP has unanimously decided, apart from the clubs concerned, to postpone the matches,” the LFP said.

The LFP added that the decision is in line with its “strategic direction” to “enable France to maintain its fifth place in the Uefa coefficient”.

The performances of clubs in European competitions largely determine how many qualification spots a league receives for Europe in future seasons, with France currently holding four Champions League spots.

When PSG made the request to postpone the match, Lens, who are one point behind the French champions in Ligue One, said they were strongly opposed to the idea and that the French league was in danger of being reduced to “an adjustment variable at the will of the European imperatives of some.”

On Thursday, as soon as the decision was announced, Lens said: “While expressing its disagreement with the unanimous decision of the LFP Board of Directors to postpone the match against Paris St-Germain, RC Lens accepts this responsibly and confirms its determination to pursue its sporting goals.”

The LFP has also asked Lens to move their home match against Nantes on May 9 forward by one day if PSG qualify for the semi-finals of the Champions League.