At the end of the 2020-2021 season, a thrill runs through Ligue 1. On the occasion of the 37e and the penultimate day of the French football championship, the multiplex ritual will resume its rights this Sunday, May 16. From 9 p.m., each goal alert will be analyzed while ten matches are taking place at the same time.
Unlike the last seasons, during which the champion and the relegated were already known well before the end of the return phase, uncertainty today resides at all levels. Lille and Paris-Saint-Germain are fighting for the title, Monaco and Lyon for qualification for the Champions League while seven bottom teams will play, this Sunday and next week, their survival in the elite.
The fight for the title: the Mastiffs close to the goal
Leader of the championship with three points ahead of Paris-Saint-Germain two days from the end, LOSC could be crowned French champion on Sunday evening if they win against Saint-Etienne and PSG fail. not impose against Reims. Despite the enthusiasm aroused by the hope of a first LOSC title since 2011, Christophe Galtier is not a man to get carried away.
“It’s a decisive match for the Champions League, it’s not a decisive match for the title. If we do a good performance, the club will qualify for the C1, and the objective is there ”, the Lille coach said on Friday at a press conference. However, in the current configuration, the LOSC is the favorite for the title of champion. And this even if the PSG found a Kylian Mbappé – back from injury – flamboyant against Montpellier in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France on Wednesday.
The top scorer in Ligue 1 this season (25 goals) could do the greatest good for Paris, which stumbled last weekend in Rennes (1-1). Facing Reims at the Parc des Princes this Sunday and then in Brest next week, Mauricio Pochettino’s team intends to pocket six points. But LOSC is master of its own destiny. Whether PSG wins these two games or not, a clear cut from Lille would prevent them from winning a fourth Ligue 1 in a row.
From Saint-Etienne, a team he led between 2009 and 2017, Christophe Galtier does not expect any privilege on Sunday: “I don’t expect anything, I don’t expect anything from the opponent. We have to build this victory. We will have to be ourselves with great motivation, great determination. “ A sense of collective which allowed Lille to crush Lens in the North derby a week ago (3-0). The title could therefore be played this Sunday or, more likely, next weekend. Mathematically, Monaco and Lyon can still dream of coronation. To tell the truth, Monegasques and Lyonnais can hardly hope for better than the 3e square.
The fight for Europe: a new seat available
Lyon is on the hunt. Its prey ? AS Monaco, which occupies the 3e place, qualifying for the preliminary rounds of the Champions League. OL cannot afford to play a second season in a row without C1 and are counting on an error from the Monegasques. “ We have to win to put the pressure on and hope for a misstep in order to regain a place on the podium. (…) At least one of the three in front will not win all of their matches. Nothing is played at the end of the season “, said Rudi Garcia, the coach of Lyon, very confident in a press conference on Friday.
While playing on the ground of Nîmes (19e) then at home against Nice (9e), Lyon has a favorable schedule compared to that of Monaco, which will face Rennes (7e) this Sunday before moving to Lens (6e) next week. Two big pieces for the ASM, which is making a spectacular second part of the season and which did not imagine hitching the lead car a few months ago. The Monegasques will also have to rub shoulders, between the last two days of L1, with PSG in the final of the Coupe de France.
A poster which revived everything in the triangular which is disputed between Marseille (5e), Lens (6e) and Rennes (7e). With PSG and Monaco guaranteed to take part in a European Cup next season, the qualifying place for the group stage of the Europa League awarded to the winner of the Coupe de France will be awarded to the 5e of Ligue 1. ” It is sure that it changes a lot of things at the sporting level, a little at the financial level “, Underlined Bruno Genesio, Rennes coach.
Because the 6e At the same time, it also becomes European with a ticket for the brand new Europa League Conference. Marseille, Lens and Rennes: three teams for two European tickets. “ We just have this extra possibility [de qualification] and we welcome him with pleasure “, said Franck Haise, the coach of the surprisingly promoted Lensois, who hopes not to be disappointed with the trio at the end of the season.
The fight for maintenance: seven teams in danger
At the bottom of the standings, seven teams are not guaranteed to be present in Ligue 1 next season. Among them, Reims (13e) is the only one saved from direct relegation and could, in the worst case, play off against a Ligue 2 team. For the rest, Brest (14e), Bordeaux (15e), Strasbourg (16e), Lorient (17e), Nantes (18e) and Nîmes (19e) will fight to stay in the top flight.
And since fate is teasing, none of these seven teams will face each other this Sunday. Only a duel between Strasbourg and Lorient is scheduled for the 38e day. Each club is therefore based on its current form. In this little game, FC Nantes is the best placed with three consecutive victories. But the Canaries start from afar. “ All the lights are green, but we’re still 18es “, deplored Antoine Kombouaré on Friday, who arrived in Nantes in February to play the service firefighters.
Nîmes, the other team at the back of the grid in this final sprint, “ given the right to hope “, declared the coach Pascal Plancque after the victory of the Crocos in Metz (3-0) Sunday, May 9. The survival mission promises to be complicated and could benefit Reims, Brest and Strasbourg, which are no longer winning. Bordeaux, for its part, remains in a favorable position, and can especially be happy to have taken a few points at the start of the season, while the club has lost twelve of its last fifteen games and remains uncertain after the departure of its main shareholder.
Denis Ménétrier