Paris (AFP)

Test gallop for Paris: if it has so far avoided the traps of January, guided by Neymar, PSG passes to Lille, Sunday (9:00 p.m.) in Ligue 1, a new resistance test on its road to Dortmund and the 8th in the Champions League.

- A great Neymar and victories -

The prudence dictated by the busy schedule, with a potential series of thirteen matches before going to challenge Borussia, did not alter the rapid pace of PSG, often more sprinter than marathoner.

His five wins over the first six games of the year extended his unbeaten streak to almost three months, and brought him closer to his ambitious goals.

Qualified Wednesday in Reims (3-0) for the final of the League Cup in early April against Lyon, the Parisians have managed a decisive turn, where they had crashed last season. Their driving force, an all-terrain player: Neymar.

The Brazilian superstar has confirmed his resumption of form by accumulating decisive actions since his return from injury: his nine goals and eight assists in his last nine games make him the man of the moment.

His good momentum coincides with the emergence in attack of the "Fantastic Four" which he forms alongside Mauro Icardi, Kylian Mbappé and Angel di Maria in a 4-4-2 which has become the fashionable system in the capital.

"It is true that we have quality and quantity in attack," admitted Angel di Maria. "We are more than four, there are Cavani, Sarabia, Draxler! But the objective is always the same, it is to stay 100%".

Behind them, coach Thomas Tuchel seems to be taking his gamble on the rotation. "I feel like we were fresh," said the German in Reims, when he has to deal with a cascade of injuries every week. Obviously promising.

- The tile + Marqui + and the doubt Cavani -

But the PSG returned from Champagne with bad news: the injury to a thigh of Marquinhos, unavailable for about three weeks. "We absolutely need him," conceded the Swabian technician.

The absence of the Brazilian reshuffles the cards in the midfield: "TT" could replace + Marqui + by Leandro Paredes or Idrissa Gueye. But the Argentinian is a usual replacement and the Senegalese disappointed against Monaco (3-3), the only Parisian misstep in January.

This area of ​​the field will be particularly monitored, especially as Julian Draxler, another candidate for the position, continues the underperformances. Will this put parenthesis 4-4-2, which showed against the Monegasques that it could lean too much towards the attack, to the detriment of the defense?

The injuries of Juan Bernat and Thilo Kehrer, absent in the North, also reduced the options of Tuchel who had to tinker in Reims by establishing Abdou Diallo, central defender, as left back.

In addition to the tactical aspect, the club must live the last days of hectic transfer window around Edinson Cavani, and Layvin Kurzawa, whose departures have been mentioned by the press. The two players were sidelined for Sunday, pending the outcome of their case.

- Lille, a false air of Dortmund -

Like a knockout round of the Champions League: it is an almost general rehearsal that awaits PSG in the North, against an opponent with a profile similar to the German club.

Like Borussia, Losc is the last unbeaten team at home in its championship, thanks to a method, also praised on the other side of the Rhine, which highlights young talents, especially in attack.

With Victor Osimhen and Renato Sanches in the roles of Erling Braut Haaland and Jadon Sancho - but in different systems -, the Mastiffs have a safe place to respond to Parisians, demanding this kind of high intensity tests.

The last Parisian visit to the Pierre-Mauroy stadium ended in humiliation for the Parisians (5-1), last April.

"This match is no longer a subject," swept Tuchel. "Today is a big challenge for us, that's good. I hope we will be ready."

© 2020 AFP