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Fixtures begin to pile up for Bordeaux

Fri 5th, March 2010

Bordeaux, France (Sports Network) - When Bordeaux and Montpellier meet up at the Chaban Delmas Stadium on Sunday they will do so with both teams level on 51 points at the top of the table, but with the defending champions having played two less games.

A win for Bordeaux on Sunday would give them the chance to put some distance between themselves and their next closest competitors, but having two games in hand at the moment is not necessarily a good thing.

Bordeaux was supposed to play Auxerre two weeks ago, but the league postponed the match to give Bordeaux more time to prepare for its first leg Round of 16 match with Olympiacos in the Champions League.

Manager Laurent Blanc saw his team come away with a 1-0 win over the Greek side, but with last weekend's game against Le Mans postponed due to high winds, Blanc's side must play three games in six days with the Auxerre match being rescheduled for March 10.

Bordeaux is fighting on three fronts at the moment with its participation in Ligue 1, the Champions League, and league cup, and as expected, the club is not too happy with the league for its revised schedule.

"This decision could have serious consequences," a club statement read on the team's official website. "The LFP simply cancels the effect of its initial decision to help prepare the best conditions for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

"Against the advice of the club, clearly expressed, the LFP is giving Bordeaux the worst conditions to prepare for the return match against Olympiacos."

"The situation is particularly unfortunate given that everything suggests the Le Mans-Bordeaux match could have taken place.

"Bordeaux proposed to postpone the meeting a few hours, play behind closed doors, or even shift the game to Monday and play without our international players.

"None of these proposals were heard and the decision to cancel the game was upheld because of the mere fact that Stade Leon Bollee in Le Mans does not meet the requirements of Ligue 1.

"Although bad weather hit much of the country, it was the only ground where a match was not played."

Montpellier is hoping to benefit from Bordeaux's ever-changing fixture list as they could catch the club trying to fight off a bit of rust.

Bordeaux's last two league games have been postponed, and having seen their lead shrink significantly over the past month, the defending champions will be under more pressure than this season's surprise package, Montpellier.

Lyon has moved into third place and enters the weekend only two points back of the leaders, and they will host 19th-placed Boulogne, while fourth-placed Marseille can also potentially move up the table with a win over Lorient.

Lille visits St Etienne after dropping a few spots in the table over the past couple of weeks, Auxerre hosts Valenciennes, PSG visits Lens, Nice and Nancy square off at Municipal du Ray, Toulouse tangles with Sochaux, Monaco invades Rennes and Grenoble entertains Le Mans in a battle of two of the league's bottom three teams.