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The Coupe de France will bring us the latest instalment of Le Classique as Paris Saint-Germain travel to face Olympique de Marseille in the round of 16 on Wednesday. Stade Velodrome promises to be boiling as these two fierce foes face off for a place in the quarterfinals. For OM, Igor Tudor’s men need to bounce back after losing at home to OGC Nice which has enabled PSG to re-open a sizeable lead at the Ligue 1 summit. As for Les Parisiens, this is a start of a key run for Christophe Galtier’s side which sees them up against the likes of OM, AS Monaco, Bayern Munich and Lille OSC before facing OM again before the end of February.
“It is a knockout game, the players know that,” said Galtier at Tuesday’s pre-game press conference. “They know what a Classique is. There are a lot of players with a lot of experience of a Classique. We have spoken about it a lot since the Toulouse game. It is a shame our fans cannot go there. There will be a lot of them supporting us from their sofas. A Coupe game is special, we are preparing ourselves well. We are preparing the game with the squad we have available, and with a specific game plan.
“Marseille press a lot, they hunt you down from everywhere. We will have to cope with that. We have to have the ball at our feet, deal with their pressing. We have the squad to get the result we want. Experience helps you handle your emotions. We have already played these kinds of games, enough of them to avoid surprises. It is a game of 11 vs. 11, and we have to finish 11 vs. 11 on the pitch, and not get carried away with bad fouls or showing dissent. We have to keep a cool head. The idea is not to be calm, but to have the clarity of thought so that each player plays to his strengths.
“When I arrived in Paris, I knew we were going to play Marseille. Two games against them are coming up quickly. I put the fact I was born in Marseille out of my mind. I know what it means to…
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