Paris Saint-Germain must "take each match very seriously" says coach Mauricio Pochettino as the reigning champions look to move top of the Ligue 1 Uber Eats table with victory at struggling Metz on Saturday (kick-off 3pm GMT).
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After looking like they would be surprise challengers for a European place, Metz have slipped out of the reckoning, drifting into mid-table with a miserable tally of just two points from a possible 18 in their last six league games and last winning on 27 February.
With PSG in second place and just a point behind leaders Lille, the game in Lorraine looks a sure-fire away banker, but Pochettino has warned his team to take nothing for granted as they seek to win the club a record-equalling tenth domestic top-flight crown by stealing a march on their title rivals who all play on Sunday.
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"The key in the title race is to take each match very seriously. Managing the squad will be decisive to have a competitive team on the pitch every game. We are playing every three days, and I think in those circumstances all the players are important and have to be up to standard so that we can play and hope to win all three competitions," said Pochettino, who also has Wednesday's UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg with Manchester City to contend with.
"The match will be difficult. Metz are a well organised team with a very good coach. They're a very strong and physical team. We know it'll be difficult, but we want to be competitive and pick up the three points, that's our goal."
Marco Verratti and Abdou Diallo are set to bolster the champions' squad after returning to full fitness, though Marquinhos remains sidelined. The duo will be welcome in a PSG side that has suffered eight league defeats this season, including two in their last five L1 outings.
Even if they do not lose another league game this term and win the title, they would the first champions since Lyon in 2002/03 to suffer so many defeats in a single campaign. Pochettino is fully aware there is still more to come from a hugely talented squad.
"I see the improvement, but we're still not at our maximum potential. We're happy with the team and the players and the efforts they make," explained the former Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur manager.
"Our idea is to always improve and progress. We want to be better every game. We are coming into the most important period of the season, and we want to win every competition we're in."
As well as the league and Champions League, PSG remain on course in the Coupe de France following their emphatic 5-0 midweek victory over Angers — that featured a Mauro Icardi hat-trick — that took them into the last four of the competition.
Metz, on the other hand, have little to play for with safety a virtual certainty — they lie 12 points and nine places above the bottom three with five games left — even if coach Frédéric Antonetti is determined to make the visitors' life difficult over the 90 minutes.
"It's a big match, it's always great to play big teams. PSG, since the start of the Qatari era, have brought French football on a huge amount, we don't say that enough. If there were three or four teams like that, it would be even better. We know it's going to be tough," said Antonetti, who could see Ibrahima Niane — scorer of six goals in his first six games this season — feature for the first time since suffering an ACL injury in October.
"Often in this kind of game, you get a chance and you have to be able to take it. It'll take a good Metz performance to earn that chance, putting in all the ingredients. That's the key thing: a very good Metz display, and enjoying it, simple as that."
Probable teams
Metz: Oukidja - Boye (c), Koyaté, Bronn - Delaine, Maiga, Sarr, Centonze - Boulaya, Gonçalves, Leya Iseka
PSG: Navas - Florenzi, Kehrer, Kimpembe (c), Kurzawa - Pereira, Verratti - Neymar, Di Maria, Kean, Mbappé
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