Girard sets Montpellier European target

Rene Girard, coach of Ligue 1 leaders Montpellier, has dismissed talk his side could win the French league title but says a European place is a realistic objective.Montpellier, who finished 14th last season, currently lead the French top flight by three points from Paris Saint-Germain ahead of Saturday’s home game with seventh-placed Lorient.However, when asked whether Montpellier were thinking about winning the league, Girard was frank. “We don’t want to cloud our thinking with that,” he said.“The target of avoiding relegation is no longer relevant. But, in all honesty, it’s not to be champions of France either. “Finishing in the top five and winning a European place would be really very good.”Montpellier will lose the services of several African players during January’s Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.Forward Souleymane Camara (Senegal), centre-back Abdel El Kaoutari (Morocco), playmaker Younes Belhanda (Morocco) and midfielder Jamel Saihi (Tunisia) are the players likely to be summoned for Africa Cup of Nations duty.