Bordeaux’s Chalme looks for positives

(GSM) – Bordeaux defender Matthieu Chalme has told his team-mates to take positives from their Champions League exit at the hands of Olympique Lyon into the remainder of their Ligue 1 title challenge.

Les Girondins beat Lyon 1-0 on Wednesday but could not overturn the first leg deficit of 3-1, crashing out after progressing to the last-four of the elite European competition.

And the defending league champions have no time to lament their loss as weekend league fixture awaits them with a trip to capital side Paris St Germain.

“There’s disappointment but at the same time there are a lot of positives to take,” Chalme told www.girondins.com.

“We’ll have to replicate that kind of performance in the league to meet the objectives of the club.

“We still hold all the aces because we still have matches in hand.

“Starting the match in Paris, we’ll have to have a big week.”

Bordeaux have slipped as low as fifth in the table, three points behind Marseille and one behind Lyon, Montpellier and Auxerre.

They do, though, have the luxury of a game in hand over the leaders and two over the chasing trio, with a visit to Le Mans coming up on Wednesday.

PSG striker Mateja Kezman watched Wednesday’s game with interest and was impressed with Bordeaux’s performance.

“It was fun to watch a game with plenty of pace and aggression,” he told www.psg.fr.

“It’s the kind of football that I like.

“Bordeaux played a great game and created opportunities.

“But their elimination may nevertheless make them mentally fragile and give us an advantage over them on Saturday.”

PSG coach Antoine Kombouare may make changes with the midweek Coupe de France semi-final against amateur side Quevilly in mind.