podium, Europa Conference League, play-offs… What are the challenges of the 34th and final day?

podium, Europa Conference League, play-offs… What are the challenges of the 34th and final day?

By TD

Published 6 hours ago, Updated now

Rémy Cabella (left), Romain Del Castillo (center) and Alexandre Lacazette (right) have things to play for this Sunday evening (9 p.m.). Michael Baucher / Panoramic / Michael Baucher / Federico Pestellini / Panoramic / Federico Pestellini / Laurent Sanson / Panoramic / Laurent SANSON

The 2023-2024 season of the French championship ends this Sunday evening (9 p.m.). And there is still suspense on several levels.

LOSC and Stade Brestois, a battle for the podium

A final decisive match. After 33 days of Ligue 1, LOSC (3rd) and Stade Brestois (4th) are in a similar situation: they have exactly the same number of points (58) and have a similar goal difference (+18 against + 16). Suffice to say that the battle for third place, directly qualifying for the group stage of the next edition of the Champions League – fourth position only allows access to the third qualifying round of the C1 -, breathless announcement.

The Mastiffs certainly have a small advantage in the standings but they welcome OGC Nice (5th), a formidable opponent – even if they no longer play anything -, while the Ty-Zefs, for their part, move onto the pitch of Toulouse FC, a formation largely within its reach on paper despite its success against Paris SG last Sunday (1-3). Everything therefore remains open!

RC Lens, OL and OM in the fight for the Europa League (Conference)

Three. There are still three of them who can dream of participating in the next edition of the Europa League: RC Lens (6th, 50 points, +8), Olympique Lyonnais (7th, 50 points, -7) and Olympique from Marseille (8th, 47 points, +10). In principle, sixth place offers a ticket for the Europa Conference League, but if Paris SG succeeds against OL in the final of the Coupe de France, it would qualify for the C3. For the Sang et Or, the Gones and the Phocéens – who all had a season well below expectations – it would be almost unexpected. They should therefore do their utmost to “save” their 2023-2024 financial year.

The Artesian team has a small advantage: if it wins against Montpellier, it could hope to compete in the “second” European Cup. The Rhone club, for its part, must both hope for a misstep from the RCL and win its confrontation against RC Strasbourg Alsace. Finally, the Canebière team no longer has its destiny in its hands at all: it must at all costs count on the defeats of its competitors and at the same time win on the Le Havre pitch; which is far from being done as it is in difficulty outside its bases. Furthermore, if Olympique Lyonnais were to win the Coupe de France and finish sixth in Ligue 1, the seventh in the standings would (also) be sent to the Europa Conference League. We should therefore witness a fierce fight until the end.

FC Lorient still has a (very) slim hope of saving itself

Let’s say it frankly, hope is slim. Very slim. With three points behind FC Metz (16th, 29 points -21), and a much lower goal difference, FC Lorient (17th, 26 points, -28) has almost no chance of remaining in the League. 1. It would take a real combination of circumstances…But given the timetable, it could well happen. Indeed, the Merlus welcome Clermont Foot 63, last in the ranking and already condemned while the Grenats welcome… Paris SG from Kylian Mbappé who should be extremely motivated by the idea of ​​finishing on a good note for his last in the French elite. Suffice to say that the Breton team has every reason to believe in both a large success against the Auvergne and a large defeat for the Messins against the Parisians. Will the miracle take place? However, even if they managed to snatch sixteenth place at the wire, the Lorientais would not yet be saved. They would “only” be play-offs and would have to defend their skin dearly against the winner of the Ligue 2 “play-offs”.

Who will finish as the best passer in Ligue 1?

Barring an incredible twist, Kylian Mbappé (Paris SG) will finish (again) top scorer in Ligue 1 (27 goals before the last day). On the other hand, the battle to become a better passer is still (very) open. Romain Del Castillo (Stade Brestois), Ousmane Dembélé (Paris SG) and Angel Gomes (LOSC) all have eight offerings on the clock. Bradley Barcola (Paris SG), “KM7” and Junya Ito (Stade de Reims) are not far away with seven assists each delivered. There are therefore very many of them who can obtain this honorary title.

SEE ALSO – French team: Didier Deschamps explains the choices on his list for Euro 2024


data-script=”
>

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *