PARIS (AP) — The Ligue 1 title race is nearing conclusion and Paris Saint-Germain could be crowned champion against Brest if second-placed Lens drops points against Nantes.
PSG leads Lens by six points and both have three games left, including their showdown in Lens on Wednesday. That match was rescheduled from April 11 to aid PSG’s quest for a second straight Champions League title. PSG reached the final on Wednesday after eliminating Bayern Munich.
Next-to-last Nantes will be relegated to Ligue 2 unless it beats Lens on Friday. All other games are on Sunday.
The race for third place and an automatic Champions League spot is shaping up as a two-way contest between Lyon and Lille, who are separated by two points.
Key matchups
Third-placed Lyon travels to mid-table Toulouse with forwards Endrick, Afonso Moreira and Roman Yaremchuk all in good form.
Fourth-placed Lille arguably has a tougher game at Monaco, which is in sixth place and strong at home.
Fifth-placed Rennes needs Lyon and Lille to slip up to maintain its slim chances of finishing third.
Rennes hosts a Paris FC which has been revitalized since coach Antoine Kombouaré took charge, losing only once in nine games to move well clear of relegation trouble.
Marseille’s chaotic season has left a tense dressing room which is reportedly at breaking point heading into the game at Le Havre.
Coach Habib Beye has failed to turn things around despite doubling the amount of training sessions, and third place is out of reach for a Marseille which must avoid a fifth defeat in seven games.
At the bottom, Auxerre hosts Nice with both sides fighting to avoid relegation.
Auxerre is in 16th place, which is the relegation-promotion playoff spot. But Auxerre can move into 15th on goal difference with a victory over Nice.
Players to watch
Winger Mousa Al-Tamari scored a brilliant angled volley last Sunday and is in a rich vein of form in a slick Rennes attack.
Rennes teammate Esteban Lepaul is the league top scorer and needs one goal to reach 20 in a comeback season after being released by Lyon a few years ago.
English forward Mason Greenwood is stuck on 15 league goals having not scored since March 7.
Lively striker Elye Wahi’s goals in recent weeks have given Nice a decent chance of staying up.
Out of action
Lens will be missing five regulars against Nantes.
Goal-scoring wingers Florian Thauvin and Allan Saint-Maximin are being rested as a precautionary measure, coach Pierre Sage said.
Mali midfielder Mamadou Sangaré, Saudi Arabia right back Saud Abdulhamid and all-action midfielder Adrien Thomasson are all suspended.
PSG right back Achraf Hakimi remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Marseille duo Nayef Aguerd (groin) and Hamed Traoré (thigh) are both out for the remaining games.
Off the field
Female soccer fans of Bordeaux have complained of being subjected to abusive body searches carried out by security officials before a fourth-tier game at Bayonne on Saturday.
The Ultramarines supporters group posted a statement on X to say several women reported “humiliating and degrading acts” during pat downs when entering the stadium.
“We take these abuses very seriously and will not let them go unpunished,” said the Ultramarines, the club’s most longstanding supporters group.
The incidents were reported to Her Game Too, an organization advocating for the protection of female sports fans in stadiums. ___
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