Ligue 1 run-in round up: PSG title secured but plenty to play for
With nine matches remaining for most of the sides in France’s top tier we take a look at the teams still fighting for the crucial places in the Ligue 1 table in the final two months of the campaign.
TITLE RACE
Simply put, there isn’t one! Holders Paris Saint-Germain are 20 points clear at the top and well on course to better last season’s dominant 93-point haul. The only question remaining is whether they will reach 100 and in all likelihood, with ten games yet to play and eight wins required, they will.
Prediction: Paris Saint-Germain
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
As things stand Lille are very much in the driving seat to secure the only other guaranteed passage into the Champions League group stages. Christophe Galtier’s side have gone from the brink of relegation last season to being the second best team for much of the campaign to now and are four points clear of Lyon in third, and a further six ahead of Marseille.
OL and OM look set to jostle for the final place on the podium and a place in the Champions League qualification rounds, with the former clear favourites to clinch it. That said, the two teams do still have to play each other in gameweek 36, with Marseille in slightly stronger form ahead of the international break - despite defeat to the runaway leaders.
Prediction: Lille and Lyon
EUROPA LEAGUE
With Strasbourg and Guingamp booking their places in the Coupe de la Ligue final one or the other is assured a spot in next season’s Europa League, meaning there will be a maximum of two guaranteed passes to the group stages through league finish. The team in fourth will take one of those, while the team in fifth will only book their place should Paris Saint-Germain or Lyon win the Coupe de France - with both preparing for semi-final clashes with Nantes and Rennes respectively.
The latter are one of seven sides still in with a realistic and have a game in hand to aide in their bid to bridge a six-point gap to Marseille in fourth. They are currently level with Nice on 41 points, with Montpellier one ahead and both Reims and Saint-Etienne four further clear and just one shy of OM.
It’s the former of said pairing that have been the real surprise package and find themselves on a sensational 13-game unbeaten run at present, which is a current streak that only Barcelona can better in Europe’s top five leagues.
Prediction: Marseille and Saint-Etienne
RELEGATION
The battle at the bottom has taken a significant and potentially decisive turn in recent weeks, with the likes of Amiens and Monaco both clawing themselves free and, in all likelihood, to safety. The two teams, who were in the bottom three at the start of February, are now seven and eight points clear respectively.
As well as picking up some impressive results themselves that is down to the dismal form of both Caen and Dijon in the same time, allowing Guingamp - who had seemed doomed - to give themselves a great chance of avoiding the drop.
After a slow start upon his appointment in November Jocelyn Gourvennec is getting a tune out of his side - who have booked a place in the Coupe de la Ligue final and now occupy the relegation play-off place following eight points from their last five matches following a run of ten defeats in 13. With just two points separating the bottom three the fight for that 18th-spot, which offers a chance of redemption in a double header with Ligue 2’s third place side, is intense.
Prediction: Dijon, Guingamp and Caen (play-off)
