PSG, Marseille and Lille will benefit from a weekend off. But is it fair? | Ligue 1 | Only Sports And Health

This was no normal weekend in Ligue 1. Elsewhere in Europe, there were scenes of joy in Leverkusen as Xabi Alonso’s side ended Bayern Munich’s run on 11 straight titles, while at Anfield and the Emirates, there were scenes of despair as Liverpool and Arsenal ceded crucial ground to Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title. It was a little quieter in France.

In late March, the LFP, Ligue 1’s governing body, decided to postpone three of this weekend’s fixtures. As part of an initiative to bolster French sides’ chances of progressing in Europe, PSG, Marseille and Lille had their games postponed until after the current round of European knockout fixtures.

PSG go into the return leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona with a one-goal deficit to overturn. Lille and Marseille trail Aston Villa and Benfica, respectively, by the same margin before their return fixtures on Thursday. Last week was not France’s finest on the European scene but the extra rest can only help; whether or not the clubs progress is another question entirely but the governing body has created optimal conditions for success.

Success in Europe is seen as a key aspect of growing the French game, especially given Kylian Mbappé’s expected departure at the end of the season and the LFP’s attempts to garner a high fee for Ligue 1’s broadcasting rights. Mbappé’s untimely departure has certainly made the LFP’s task considerably more difficult.

Despite this context, the LFP’s decision to postpone games has not garnered universal praise – far from it. The Le Havre president, Jean-Michel Roussier, sounded the starting gun for a debate on the initiative last week. With his club mired in a relegation battle, Roussier is acutely aware that the rearranged fixtures will affect his team.

Last weekend, with an eye on their Champions League fixture giants Barcelona, PSG fielded a weakened lineup against relegation-fighting Clermont Foot, picking two academy products who were making their first starts for the club. Clermont left the Parc des Princes with a precious point, angering the Le Havre president. Roussier accused PSG of showing “contempt” towards the league. “I’ve constructed a text to send to Ligue 1 to express how I feel seeing PSG make fun of our league,” he said. “They’re taking the piss out of people.”

Roussier added that seeing PSG’s lineup was the “cherry on top of the cake” of a “week of anger” in which the LFP told him that his club’s match against PSG would likely be postponed if PSG progress to the Champions League semi-finals. The fixture changes could mean that Le Havre have to face all three of Nice, PSG and Marseille within the final week of the season. Such a scenario would also mean that the league would be bending their rule that the final two matchdays of the season are set in stone. Roussier says he will not accept this and will do what he can to fight it.

His anger reflects a broader feeling that smaller clubs are not treated fairly. “We’re just here to make up the numbers,” he said in an explosive radio interview with RMC in which he accused PSG of showing “minimum respect for the league”.

It is a viewpoint that is shared. The Nantes manager, Antoine Kombouaré, who played for PSG, managed PSG and supports PSG, also disagrees with the initiative: “The LFP wants to protect clubs in European competitions but, at the same time, you can’t weaken sides playing for survival. I think the league should protect the league; European competition comes after.”

Not all of the league’s smaller clubs agree. Lorient, who were scheduled to face PSG this weekend, said they will “always show solidarity with French clubs competing in European competition”. Their display of selflessness is admirable but other clubs of similar standing should not be denigrated for not following suit.

The divisive initiative is an indication of where the LFP’s priorities lie. It is justifiable for ‘smaller’ clubs to question the agendas at play and whose interests are favoured. If the three clubs progress in Europe this week, the initiative will no doubt receive praise but perhaps not by Le Havre or Nantes, who are just as much a part of Ligue 1 as PSG, Lille or Marseille. As they seek to further the interests of the French game in this uncertain period, the LFP are struggling to straddle two camps; self-interest and division reigns.

Talking points

At the start of December, Lyon were bottom of Ligue 1; even as recently as February, the club occupied the relegation playoff spot. Two months later, Pierre Sage has led them into the European places. It is a miracle of sorts but also an indictment of their rivals’ inconsistency. Their latest victory, against Champions League-chasing Brest, came in spectacular circumstances in what was the best game of the season.

After Corentin Tolisso had opened the scoring for Lyon in the first half, Brest hit back with three goals in eight minutes, two of which came from the former Lyon forward Romain Del Castillo. Goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolás Tagliafico restored parity before the latter received a red card for an altercation with Pierre Lees-Melou, who was also sent off, harshly. Deep in injury time, Lacazette earned a penalty for Lyon but, having been stretchered off due to the heavy impact with Marco Bizot, it fell to Ainsley Maitland-Niles to take the resulting spot-kick. The former Arsenal man held his nerve to score in the 17th minute of injury time, securing Lyon a 4-3 victory that lifts them to seventh.

With a Coupe de France final also coming up, Lyon somehow have not one but two chances to qualify for Europe next season. Lyon were the fallen giants at the start of the season but other giants are floundering too and within that context, they have two shots of redemption.

Relegation strugglers 3-0 European chasers. Metz, Strasbourg and Toulouse all faced difficult fixtures but all prevailed this weekend. The returning Georges Mikautadze has given Metz hope after he hit a brace as they beat Lens 2-1. The Georgian forward has scored three time as many league goals as Metz’s next top scorer, Matthieu Udol, and he has contributed an incredible 30% of the club’s goals in the league this season. What makes that feat all the more incredible is that Mikautadze spent half the season at Ajax. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Elsewhere, Strasbourg beat Reims 3-1 and Toulouse overcame Rennes 2-1. The wins take Strasbourg and Toulouse out of the relegation conversation; the defeats for Reims and Rennes harmed their hopes in the European conversation. Reims are mired in an injury crisis while Rennes’ defeat has precipitated a crisis of sorts, with the performance being denounced by all echelons of the club and described as “inconceivable and shameful” and a “catastrophe”.