Paris Saint-Germain continues their march towards their 11th French league title, their 8th in the last 10 seasons. Despite some inexplicable setbacks given the financial strength and value of their squad, Paris Saint-Germain have not had any major problems this season either.
Last weekend PSG notched up their third consecutive win, and the lead over second-placed Olympique de Marseille, who beat rivals Olympique Lyon this weekend, is now eight points with six rounds remaining. In the last six rounds, PSG will face accessible opponents Lorient, Troyes, AC Ajaccio, Auxerre, Strasbourg and Clermont. For the Parisian side, the current season has broadly followed the same pattern as previous seasons when PSG took the title – a fight with some salt and pepper in Ligue 1 and failure in the UEFA Champions League, which remains a Fata Morgana for them.
The battle for second position in Ligue 1, the last one that ensures direct access in the group stage of the next edition of the Champions League will be between Olympique de Marseille and RC Lens. Beaten at the weekend, Olympique Lyonnais (1-2 at home to Marseille), Rennes (0-1 away to Montpellier), and Monaco (0-3 at Lens) have lost touch with second and third places; so has Lille, unbeaten for two rounds but 10 points off the podium.
Next Sunday Marseille will play at home against Auxerre, 14th place, but a team traversing a good period – three wins and one defeat in the last four rounds.
Lens, third place with 66 points, one less than Marseille, also seems to be having a good end of the Ligue 1 season. After the 1-3 away defeat to PSG, their first after seven rounds of unbeaten form, Lens got revenge on Monaco, whom they defeated 3-0 at home this weekend. In two weeks, on 6 May, Lens and Marseille will meet in a head-to-head match at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, a clash that could settle the battle for second place in Ligue 1.
Troyes and AC Ajaccio have only theoretical chances of avoiding relegation. In these circumstances, the fight to avoid the 17th place, the last relegation spot currently occupied by Brest, will be very interesting. The fight to avoid this place will be between Auxerre, Strasbourg, Nantes and Brest. In the next round Strasbourg will play at home against Lyon and Nantes will travel to Brest in a veritable play-off for survival in Ligue 1.
