Paris Saint Germain Set To Break Ligue 1 Record

Paris Saint-Germain manager Laurent Blanc has called on his players to end the year with a bang by breaking the record for the most points collected in the first half of a Ligue 1 campaign.

PSG travel to face Caen on Saturday knowing that a sixteenth win in 19 league matches would take them to 51 points — one more than Lyon managed at the same stage of the 2006-2007 campaign.

The defending French champions sit 17 points clear at the summit and they will be out to put further distance between them and one of the surprise teams in the chasing pack when they take on fourth-placed Caen.

Blanc, 50, says the prospect of breaking Lyon’s mid-season points tally could help his team approach their final game of 2015 in the right matter.

“In any case, they will be informed,” Blanc told a news conference on Friday. “If that can add an extra motivation, it’s a good thing.

“We’re preparing this match to win it, with all the respect that we can have for Caen and their manager who I know very well.

“Our ambition is to go and win in Caen, to take three points and to beat this record that Lyon still hold.”

Blanc hinted earlier this week that negotiations to extend his contract are going well following PSG’s impressive start to the current campaign.

His side are unbeaten in domestic action and on Wednesday they reached the quarterfinals of the Coupe de la Ligue when they beat Saint-Etienne 1-0 at the Parc des Princes.

That success was Blanc’s 100th victory in 140 matches in all competitions since he became PSG manager in June 2013.

However the former France boss says he is more concerned about the team adding to the eight trophies they have already won during his time in charge.

“It’s good but what gives me more motivation is to reach our collective goals,” he said.

“Individual stats like that one are nice but I don’t give them too much importance.

“I simply hope that there will be a lot more victories.”