Gameweek 33 may have seen PSG irrevocably crowned champions, now for the seventh time, but elsewhere in Ligue 1 there is still a great deal to play for. A race for third in the table and a fascinating relegation battle will be determined over the next five games.
The curtain-raiser for Gameweek 34 of Ligue 1 opens with Nantes trying to make up for a sorry record against Rennes, in a run that hasn’t seen them chalk up a league win against Les Rouges et Noirs in 5 years. A demoralised Rennes, who last week suffered a shock home loss to bottom of the table Metz, might finally offer them the opportunity.
Metz’s excellent 2-1 victory at fifth-placed Rennes last week was their first away victory since December, and only their third of the season. Two goals within five minutes from forward Nolan Rouz may provoke Les Grenats to seriously make a push for a 2018/2019 residency in the French top division. Metz are five points adrift of safety with five games to play. A run that features 19th-placed Lille, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see Metz continue make a sincere attempt at a great escape. Rouz has been a shining light, alongside Mathieu Dossevi, this season for Metz; his goals last week have taken the 30 year-old past Kylian Mbappe and Rony Lopes in the overall Ligue 1 goal-scoring charts, and equalling Memphis Depay of Lyon.
Depay himself will have to share the focus this week with a returning hero, as Les Gones can once again open a gap on a European-distracted Marseille by being afforded the opportunity to get their weekend fixture against Dijon out of the way on Friday evening. Another performance by the Dutchman at home to SC Amiens last week gave Lyon fans extra cause for celebration with captain Nabil Fekir in the line-up, coming on for the last quarter of the hour on Sunday, and is hopefully ready to regain his talismanic status.
Whilst Lyon have been performing superbly in his absence, they will be overjoyed by Fekir’s return from a knee injury, as they hope to solidify their top three status and perhaps even making a push for second. Whilst they are level on points with Marseille, they will want to extend the goal difference which is currently keeping them a nose ahead. The two teams are now just four points behind AS Monaco, who completely capitulated at the Parc des Princes to finally hand the crown to PSG.
The 7-1 loss by the presumed first runners-up to the title winners has done no favours for the French league, and Monaco are no longer as secure in second as previously thought with the aforementioned teams breathing down their neck. The two most distant teams in the division, a long journey to Guingamp at the Stade de Roudourou might not be the best remedy for Les Monégasques. This maybe also be the final run of games to see the underperforming Thomas Lemar in the red and white of Monaco, as he is repeatedly linked with a move away this summer (perhaps into the red and white of another particular team).
A tired Marseille team, exhausted from their midweek Europa League travails, managed two goals in the last 15 minutes to provide a not-altogether convincing win against Troyes last weekend. Florian Thauvin scored his 20th goal coming from behind against Troyes and his return from injury is a boost for Les Phoceens as they continue to, gratefully, battle on domestic and continental fronts. This also means they have scored eight in their last two games, when totalled with the five past RB Leipzig in the Europa League, and it will probably be the resulting first leg of the semi-final against FC Salzburg on the following Thursday that will be at the forefront of manager Rudi Garcia’s mind.
This might be welcomed by their Saturday afternoon opponents Lille, although it looks increasingly unlikely that it will be taken advantage of. Lille are a sorry state of affairs, with one win in 14 and seem destined for Ligue 2, perhaps embarrassingly bottom if Metz demonstrate the relative quality they have teased of late.
Two teams quite familiar with Ligue 2 get reacquainted as Strasbourg travel to the Hauts-de-France to play Amiens. Remarkably, they have rose together in tandem through the French divisions over the past two seasons. In Ligue 2 last year, they provided one of the matches of the year, in a topsy-turvy encounter ending 4-3. Three goals for each side, -both including a penalty- before the clock had even registered 40, the match was only decided two minutes from time by Thomas Monconduit for Amiens. Despite Strasbourg topping the second division last year, it has been Les Licornes who have been most smug after recent meetings, winning four of the last five. Their summer acquisition Moussa Konate has proven to be an astute buy with 10 goals this campaign.
The team that came up with them, now 19th-placed Troyes, whilst performing admirably for the majority of the match just couldn’t hold on to record a result against fourth-placed Olympique de Marseille. Playing 10-time league winners Saint-Etienne this week could be even more of a tough test of their credentials to remain in the premier French division. Saint-Etienne are undefeated in 11 games- a run that includes PSG, Marseille and Lyon- and one must wonder the table position potential had they shown this type of character earlier on in the season.
Toulouse will play their first fixture in two weeks after their match against Caen last week was cancelled due to bad weather. Despite being in 17th position in the table, Toulouse haven’t been beaten by no more than two goals on any occasion since the third game of the season but are desperate to push away from the relegation quagmire. The team they welcome, Angers, have quite respectably only managed to lose just once, and this coming to PSG, in their past seven games.
Perhaps the most-closely fought game this week should be exhibited on Sunday between sixth-place OGC Nice and the team directly below them Montpellier. The two teams are a hair’s breadth apart and alternated places last week following Nice’s draw with Angers and Montpellier’s 3-1 loss to Bordeaux.
Those inclined to watch PSG versus Bordeaux will probably be providing more of a duty than world record signing Neymar, who apparently wasn’t at the Parc des Princes last Sunday to see his team officially win his first- and what’s looking increasingly likely as only- French Ligue 1 title. However, with two wins on the bounce, it will be somewhat surprising if Bordeaux make this a hat-trick against Unai Emery’s side with the manager and a good proportion of his PSG team seem resigned to serving their last few games for Les Parisiens.
It’s incredible to say that, with the amount that PSG have spent, the stars that are paraded out every week, and the classy, tantalising football they’ve exhibited, that something needs to change in the French capital. It is when one compares it to the emphatic celebrations following the victory of PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie, Manchester City in the Premier League, and what’s probable to greet Juventus in Serie A in the foreseeable future, that one has to consider the possible discrepancies between where Paris Saint-Germain as champions, their owners, their fans, and the wider footballing world see them at the moment.
Full Gameweek 34 Fixtures
Friday 20th April 2018
Nantes v Rennes
Dijon v Olympique Lyonnais
Saturday 21st April 2018
Olympique de Marseille v Lille
Amiens SC v Strasbourg
Guingamp v Monaco
Metz v Caen
Toulouse v Angers
Sunday 22nd April 2018
Nice v Montpellier
Saint-Etienne v Troyes
Bordeaux v PSG
