Saint-Denis (AFP)

The final of the Coupe de la Ligue Friday against Lyon "is a great challenge: we are playing a Champions League match", warned PSG coach Thomas Tuchel, Thursday on the eve of the confrontation between the last two French representatives in the European Cup.

"It's early for a match of this level but it's good," Tuchel said in the pre-match press conference, as his side will play their Champions League quarter-final against Atalanta Bergamo on August 12 in Lisbon.

"We have already had a decisive, complicated match (last Friday against Saint-Etienne in the Coupe de France final). We won it (1-0). It gives a lot of confidence, a good atmosphere. Lyon is a team Champions League, it is necessary to prepare well ", he added.

Winner 1-0 against Juventus Turin in the round of 16 first leg, Lyon can also qualify for the "Final 8" of the Champions League if they perform well in the second leg in Turin on August 7th.

Paris, which holds the record for the number of victories in the competition with 8 titles, was eliminated at the quarter-final stage last year against Guingamp (2-1 loss).

Sacred from the first edition of this competition launched in 1995, PSG can come full circle by winning the last edition.

Seventh at the time of the anticipated end of Ligue 1, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lyon must beat Paris on Friday, or win the C1 in August, in order to avoid a first season without a European Cup since 1997.

Conversely, if the Parisians win, it is the Stade de Reims, sixth in the Championship, which will ensure the sesame.

© 2020 AFP