Blanc: Zlatan is unbelievable
Laurent Blanc has asked Zlatan Ibrahimovic to "keep on scoring" after the Sweden striker brought up a scoring century for Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. The 33-year-old, who joined from AC Milan in 2012, scored his 100th goal for PSG and went on to add two more, notching a hat-trick in a 4-1 Coupe de France victory over Saint-Etienne.
Ibrahimovic's exploits - supported by a late header from Ezequiel Lavezzi - mean the Ligue 1 leaders are well-placed to complete a domestic treble after booking a cup final meeting with Auxerre, just days before they tackle Bastia in the final of the Coupe de la Ligue. While his in-form team are producing goals from all quarters, Blanc knows Ibrahimovic's contribution will be particularly vital over the run-in, with the small matter of a two-legged UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona also on a busy schedule.
He told his club's official website: "Zlatan? He's an unbelievable player and will keep scoring goals."
"We are playing every three or four days. When you keep winning, the recovery is easier and quicker, so I hope we keep winning."
Laurent Blanc
Referring to the fixture pile-up, Blanc added: "We are playing every three or four days. We need to recover well.
"Tonight the players produced an excellent match, technically very good. The players enjoyed themselves and we could see that in the second half. When you keep winning, the recovery is easier and quicker, so I hope we keep winning."
Douchez revels in back-to-back successes
Goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez felt the Coupe de France semi-final worked as an excellent warm-up for Saturday's showdown with Bastia at the Stade de France.
He said: "The best way to prepare for the final of the Coupe de la Ligue against Bastia was to qualify for another final. We did it.
"Three days after our excellent victory over Marseille (3-2) we got straight back into action and qualified here. We started well, and then had a less good period after they equalised.
"But in the end, we imposed our rhythm and scored four goals against a very good Saint-Etienne side."