Ligue 1’s four-way title race

After a thrilling final 15 minutes in PSG’s win over St. Etienne, the title race in Ligue 1 gets even closer as three points separate the top four teams.

Five goals were scored at the death in Paris with Mauro Icardi’s 94th-minute winner grabbing the three points for PSG. Although the Parisians are still favourites to win the league with five games to go, they face tough competition from their three opponents.

Lille

Lille currently sit at the top of the table on 70 points and one point ahead of PSG. Unlike their rivals, the leaders have been great defensively compared to going forward. Their centre-back partnership has been one of the most surprising successes of Europe this season as 37-year-old Jose Fonte partners promising talent Sven Botman, who is 21-years-old.

Along with goalkeeper Mike Maignan, Fonte and Botman have helped Lille 18 clean sheets this season and only conceded 20 goals, which is fewer than any other team in the league.

Lille also have the best away record in the league and three of their final five are away from home, including a huge game at Lyon this weekend. The club has not won the Ligue 1 title since the 2010/11 season when they were captained by Rudi Garcia, who currently manages Lyon.

PSG

We all know the quality PSG possesses. Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria, and Julian Draxler, to just name some of the attackers. They have won the last three Ligue 1 titles and manager Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping to win his first league title.

PSG are also the top-scoring team in the competition with 74 goals and Mbappe is currently the leading scorer with 23 goals. Captain Marquinhos has also helped reinforce the defence as he has improved his game over the last 12 months.

Although PSG does not face any of their direct league rivals in their remaining fixtures, they are still participating in both the Coupe de France and the Champions League. This could lead to Pochettino prioritising games rather than focusing solely on the league.

Monaco

Monaco’s 2021 has helped secure their place in the title race as they have only lost one game this year and went on a seven-game winning streak in January. The side has been led by the attacking contributions of Wissam Ben Yedder and Kevin Volland who both have 22 direct goals or assists in the league this season.

Young defender Benoit Badiashile has made headlines this season as the 20-year-old surpassed 50 appearances for Monaco this year and received interest from teams such as Manchester United.

Monaco are currently two points off Lille and have not won the league since their famous 2016/17 season with a team that featured the likes of Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, and Fabinho.

Lyon

Last season’s Champions League semi-finalists are currently fourth in Ligue 1, three points off the top. Lyon arguably have the hardest run-in as they face Lille and Monaco in back-to-back games, which could seal their fate for the season.

Memphis Depay has brilliantly led the side and has also contributed with 18 goals and nine assists. His brace against Nantes in their most recent game was vital as they won consecutive league games for the first time since February.

Lyon are still in the Coupe de France, where they face Monaco in the quarter-finals. They have not won the cup since 2012 and the league since 2008 when they won seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles from 2002-2008.

The twist

Although all four of these clubs have a great chance of winning the league title, the team that finishes fourth faces a bigger loss than the other three, apart from the most obvious reason of finishing the lowest.

In Ligue 1, only the top three clubs qualify for the Champions League and the team in fourth goes into the Europa League. This gives an added incentive for the clubs to go hard in the last five games as they have not secured qualification for the Champions League.

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