Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 9y

Leonardo Jardim: Monaco tired vs. Paris Saint-Germain after Arsenal

Leonardo Jardim has claimed his Monaco side are "tired" following their Champions League exertions against Arsenal.

Jardim, 40, saw his side toil to a goalless draw against Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday in a lacklustre performance that contrasted with Wednesday's sparkling display in their 3-1 win at the Emirates Stadium.

The former Sporting and Olympiakos boss, who faces PSG again in a Coupe de France quarterfinal on Wednesday, told reporters he could see his squad's efforts in north London had taken their toll.

"Monaco weren't better than PSG. I saw a big difference between the two sides, because our team was tired after the Champions League," he said.

"It's the fatigue of having played a top-level game such as that against Arsenal. This evening we played against the best team in the league, so it's a good point.

"Both teams will have the same amount of time to recover. But we're more tired than PSG right now. And my squad isn't at full strength at the moment. We need to find solutions to make up the squad."

While Jardim struggles to maintain a challenge on three fronts, his PSG counterpart, Laurent Blanc, still has an interest in four competitions.

A third successive Ligue 1 title remains a realistic prospect, but after seeing leaders Lyon surprisingly beaten at Lille on Saturday, PSG passed up the opportunity to end a round of games on top of the table for a fourth time this season with their stalemate at the Stade Louis II.

PSG were unable to claim the three points that would have lifted them to the summit of the French top flight due to a combination of Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic and their own wasteful finishing.

Blanc, 49, whose side must score at least once at Chelsea next Wednesday to hope to progress to the Champions League quarterfinals, suggested finishing practice will be on the menu at training this week.

"We played rather well, but what counts in football is capitalising on your domination with goals. And this evening, unfortunately, that wasn't the case for my team," said Blanc, who saw Javier Pastore, Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi all pass up scoring opportunities.

"I think we have players who can score, but we don't have enough of them as we created clear-cut opportunities and didn't manage to convert them into goals. Last year, we managed to convert one of every two or even two of every five. There is perhaps some work to be done in that area."

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