For the 36th day of Ligue 1, the table of the championship gave cold sweats to the supporters of Marseille and Guingamp.
OM “Champion’s project” has turned into “Fiasco project” Sunday after the slap imposed by Lyon at the Velodrome (3-0) , solid third in Ligue 1, which deprives Marseille of a presence in the European Cup the next season.
In the other matches of the day, the scenes of jubilation perceived in Lille, winner of Bordeaux (1-0) and almost guaranteed to compete in the group stages of the Champions League, offered a striking contrast with the distress of Guingamp, relegated in Ligue 2 after his draw in Rennes (1-1).
Lyon causes a “Marsexit”
In a sluggish Vélodrome, OL made a double blow by reinforcing its grip on third place, jump-start for the 3rd preliminary round of the Champions League, and putting an end to the last European hopes of Marseille rival. As in 2016/2017, OM will not play either the Champions League or the European Cup, dropped 7 points from the last European ticket currently held by Saint-Etienne.
In the standings, Lyon who made the difference with Maxwel Cornet (24th, 86th) and Moussa Dembele (84th), pushes the “Greens” to four points, before his last two games against Caen and Nimes. Saint-Etienne, his historical enemy and his main competitor, will rub him in Nice and Angers.
Hoot, the pre-game was marked by the stoning of the Lyon bus near the Vélodrome, in which were deployed banners hostile to the Olympian leadership (“Eyraud outside”) and players (“You have neither the shoulders or balls to wear our jersey, break off “), in addition to scornful writings (” Shipwreck project “,” Fiasco project “…) parodying the slogan” OM Champion’s project “of the club owned by the American Frank McCourt.
Lille in the waiting room
At the edge of relegation at the end of last season, Lille has recovered dramatically and is waiting for the formalization of its direct qualification for the Champions League 2019/2020 ! “It’s strong, it’s a lot of joy, emotions, it’s an extraordinary human adventure that began 18 months ago,” savored coach Christophe Galtier, euphoric at the final whistle.
Mathematically, OL can certainly pick up again at Losc by the end of the championship, provided they win all their matches and that the Northerners lose theirs. The two teams would then be on equal points, but Lille has a much more favorable difference in goals.
It is the striker Loïc Rémy, trained in Lyon, who offered to the Dogues a direct ticket for the big European Cup. The 32-year-old French international, served on a free kick by Jonathan Ikoné’s shot, turned the offering with a superb volley (27 ‘).
Read also: Guingamp officially relegated to Ligue 2 after a draw in Rennes
Bye-bye Guingamp
At the bottom of the table, Ligue 1 has already sent a first convict in the lower echelon. Guingamp, present in the elite of French football for six seasons, is officially relegated to Ligue 2 , after his draw (1-1) in Rennes, where he missed a penalty synonymous with hope in injury time.
The club of the small Breton town (7000 inhabitants), finalist unfortunate of the last Cup of the League, did better than to resist in the regional derby, but could not avoid a relegation which extended to him the arms. Led quickly after a goal of Ismaïla Sarr (15th), in numerical superiority in the last quarter of an hour, Guingamp scored the score by Alexandre Mendy (87th) before the international Espoirs Marcus Thuram sees his penalty stopped (90th + 2).
Red Lantern, the En Avant no longer has a chance to leave the relegation zone by the end of the season. The second place of relegation will return to the current penultimate Dijon, Caen (in position of barrage), Monaco or Amiens.
Rennes, unable to win in the league for two months, is 12th and it annoys Hatem Ben Arfa. The group is “not ambitious enough”, “fearful”, dropped in the mixed zone the former Parisian, more than ever on the start: “These matches and others allow me to move forward in my journey” because “game level is limited, anyway …”.
Resultats of the 36th day of Ligue 1 football:
Friday :
Saint-Etienne – Montpellier 0 – 1
Saturday :
Angers – Paris SG 1 – 2
Amiens – Toulouse 0 – 0
Caen – Reims 3 – 2
Nîmes – Monaco 1 – 0
Dijon – Strasbourg 2 – 1
Nice – Nantes 1 – 1
Sunday :
Rennes – Guingamp 1 – 1
Lille – Bordeaux 1 – 0
Marseille – Lyon 0 – 3
Source: © 2019 AFP
