Paris (AFP)

Deprived of a last warm-up round on Saturday in Strasbourg due to the epidemic of new coronavirus, PSG is preparing for its 8th final return to the Champions League in uncertainty: will it play against Dortmund on Wednesday behind closed doors or in front of the audience, in an optimal form?

. Response at the start of the week

For Strasbourg, the decision to postpone took place less than 24 hours before the championship match, initially scheduled for Saturday at 5.30 p.m. (4.30 p.m. GMT). If for Dortmund, PSG hopes to be fixed on its fate further upstream, the Paris police headquarters must still wait for the latest developments before deciding.

According to the latest official report, 1,126 people were contaminated in France and 19 died from Covid-19. If the whole country is still in "stage 2" of the state of alert, the government announced Sunday the ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people in a closed environment, against 5,000 previously.

"The prefects, the ministries will bring up a list of events considered useful for the life of the nation," announced Sunday the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, after a Defense Council at the Elysée Palace.

In Italy, where the epidemic affects more than 7,000 people, the Minister of Sports has even asked for the suspension of the championship, while other sporting events were canceled this weekend on French territory.

Worried? "If there are decisions, we must accept them, had warned the Parisian trainer Thomas Tuchel Friday afternoon. But we are stronger in front of our public, it is clear."

In the meantime, the Parisian club is still preparing to organize its biggest meeting of the season in front of 47,000 spectators. First signal, the reassuring message to fans on the ticket resale platform, confirming "at this stage" that the match, "maintained on Wednesday, March 11, 2020", must take place "under normal conditions".

"All the teams of Paris SG are involved so that the Parc des Princes is ready to welcome the expected supporters in conditions of maximum health security", it is still written.

So much so that the Collective Ultras Paris, the main group of Parisian supporters, has already announced in a press release on Saturday the massive presence of its members, while the displacement of the German supporters still raises the question: "Wednesday we will be present from l doors open at your side, like the first leg (2-1 defeat) ".

Second clue ruling out the possibility of a postponement, the maintenance by UEFA of media activities and pre-match press conferences scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. The French authorities will, however, have the final say.

. Reinforced training and decompression

On the field, to what extent was the preparation for C1's return leg 8 th upset by the postponement of the match against Strasbourg?

"Neymar needed to play. We see it when he doesn't have a rhythm that he carries the ball too much, that he gets annoyed quite easily. It would have been better for him to have made this match", estimated the former French international Bixente Lizarazu, Sunday on TF1.

Worse, the organizations of Parisian players could not save a round trip by plane. The champion of France went to Alsace Friday evening, and did not learn the postponement of the match until once there.

"We would have preferred to know before to avoid moving the team during a particularly busy period of the sports calendar", we whispered within the Parisian club, while respecting "obviously" the decision of the prefect of Bas-Rhin.

To remedy this lack of forced competition, notably concerning its stars Angel Di Maria, preserved Wednesday in Lyon (5-1), or Thiago Silva, engaged in a race against the clock after his muscular injury, the Parisian staff has scheduled a busy training on Saturday morning.

On the program: toros, oppositions 9 against 9, and tactical work ... then rest on Sunday to decompress before tackling a crucial week for the immediate future of the Parisian club.

Enough to be ready? "When you can only train, you can not manage the mind. But for players of this level, it should not be extremely disabling," said Philippe Lambert, former physical trainer of PSG, Sunday in Le Parisien.

Dortmund, for its part, continued unhindered its preparation by winning Saturday at Mönchengladbach (2-1) in the Bundesliga. Confidence versus freshness: the best preparation will give its verdict on Wednesday ... with or without an audience.

© 2020 AFP