Third straight league title: PSG will not rest on their laurels, says Laurent Blanc

Paris club retains Ligue 1 crown with a 2-1 win over Montpellier

MONTPELLIER: Laurent Blanc says while he and the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) players will treasure their third successive Ligue 1 title, the goal is to build on the success as there still remains room for improvement.

The 49-year-old coach — who could yet land an historic domestic treble as PSG take on Ligue 2 Auxerre in the French Cup final — admitted this title had been won in adversity.

PSG, who landed the League Cup earlier in the season beating Bastia, had to battle hard to win the title this time round with first Marseille and then ultimately Lyon giving them a tough fight, but a 2-1 away win on Saturday over Montpellier saw them retain the trophy with a game to spare.

Blanc, who replaced Carlo Ancelotti as coach after the Italian left for Real Madrid following the first title win in 2013, said he could not say if PSG were set to dominate domestic football like the Lyon side did at the beginning of the century.

“I cannot tell you if that will come to pass,” said Blanc, whose major disappointment was the tame way PSG lost to Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals having shown great character to beat Chelsea in the previous round.

“However, Paris do not want to stop now, we want to continue to make progress, to get better, whether it be the players, the [coaching] staff or the board of directors.

“I do hope that will happen. First we will savour the title as the season is not over. There is still the Cup final against Auxerre. We will do an overall analysis after that match.”

Blanc, who also won the title with Bordeaux before a two-year spell post the disastrous 2010 World Cup finals as French national coach which ended after they exited in the Euro 2012 quarter-finals, said the title was reward for an all-round team effort. “A title always tastes good, but the manner in which one wins it can bring an extra satisfaction,” he said. 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th,  2015.

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