Abidal pleased with Monaco´s progress

Eric Abidal believes Monaco’s 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday shows how far they have come this season.

After gaining promotion from Ligue 2 last term, Monaco have proven to be PSG’s closest rivals at the top of Ligue 1, recording 1-1 draws in both league meetings with the French champions.

Abidal, who moved to the principality from Barcelona last July, has played in all but one of Monaco’s 24 Ligue 1 matches this campaign.

And the 34-year-old believes their latest draw with Laurent Blanc’s men indicates their ability to finish in the top two.

“We proved a lot of things since the beginning of the season,” Abidal told L’Equipe. “We showed that we can compete with PSG (on Sunday).

“We made two good results against PSG.

“We must remember the good things and rectify the bad.

“The objective is to play in the UEFA Champions League at the end of the season.”

Monaco are still five points behind PSG in the table, but more important for Abidal was maintaining their own lead on Lille and Saint-Etienne below them.

“Certainly teams that are behind us (benefitted from the draw),” he added. “They glean points.

“But the important thing for us was not to get beat by Paris.

“It (the gap) remains five points and everything is possible. We must use this draw to advance.”