Save something for later

As most of the leagues in Europe draw to a close, players will thinking about not picking up injuries that could rule them out of a World Cup place and not playing too hard in the last few games of the season if there’s nothing riding on them.
They’ve got to keep the balancing act of not losing match fitness and getting the body some rest and being fresh for Germany.

Players in the French squad face a mixed run-in at the moment. The Lyon contingent can relax because they already have the league championship in the bag with four games to play and are out of the Coupe de France. I’ve no doubt Gerard Houllier as a former national coach will give any World Cup players a gentle next few weeks.

Elsewhere the likes of Thuram, Vieira and Trezeguet at Juventus still have some work to do to win Serie A. They need eight points from their last four games to guarantee the title and so could be playing pressure matches all the way up to May 14.

Of the French players in England, Gallas and Makelele could be champions again with Chelsea by tomorrow night but they’re also still in the FA Cup semifinals.
Silvestre, Saha and Evra at Man.United are closing out the season with just second spot in the Premiership to go for, and Saha twisted an ankle this week so may not play again before the season ends.

Arsenal’s Thierry Henry has a massive week coming up with a Champions League semifinal game against Villareal on wednesday night and a north London derby with Tottenham on saturday.
Arsenal have six or possibly seven important games before the end of the season, if they make the final of the Champions League, and I think they’ll want Henry to play a part in all of them. Not good news from a French point of view.

Lastly Zidane and Real Madrid are locked in a three way fight for second spot in Spain. If this is Zidane’s last season I can’t see him busting a gut in Real’s last six games if the La Liga title’s already gone.
I think he’ll be saving whatever he has left in the locker for a game in Stuttgart on June 13.