PSG Ends with a Triple Bid for the Ligue 1 Title
After their Champions League comeback triumph against Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain might win the Ligue 1 championship as early as next week, securing the first prize of what they hope will be a historic triple.
On Sunday, Luis Enrique’s team takes on a revitalized Lyon, and if they win, they might have a chance to secure the championship with four games remaining when they play Lorient on Wednesday.
As they look to win the Champions League for the first time, PSG’s victory over Barcelona set up a semi-final matchup with Borussia Dortmund. On May 25, they will also take on Lyon in the French Cup final.
After scoring twice in Tuesday’s 4-1 victory against Barcelona in the second leg, Kylian Mbappe, who is expected to depart the squad at the conclusion of the season, cautioned his teammates not to get ahead of themselves.
Mbappe said on PSG TV, “We have to stay focused and on track towards our goal.”
“I want to support my group. The fact is, I want to support the team no matter what. While objectives can assist, they are not the primary benefit at this time of attention to detail.
“I want to try to assist the squad as much as I can by contributing on both sides of the ball. to be completely selfless and regret nothing.
Last season, PSG was expected to win Ligue 1 handily, but a string of missteps meant that they needed to win the last game to seal the victory and ended up finishing just one point clear of Lens in second place.
The capital club will be eager to avoid making any mistakes of that such this season, but they will have a difficult test when they play Lyon, who under Pierre Sage have gone from being relegation-threatened strugglers to European contenders.
Last weekend’s 4-3 win against Brest in second place brought Lyon to within two points of Lens in sixth place and the Europa Conference League slot.
The competition for spots in the group stage of the Champions League for the next season is also drawing to a close, with Brest, Monaco, and Lille, behind leaders PSG, separated by only four points.
In the French top flight, the top three teams go directly to the group stage, while the fourth-place team advances to the qualification rounds.
Sunday sees Brest play Monaco, hoping to maintain their one-point advantage over their third-place rivals.
Lille will face Strasbourg earlier that day, and a victory would put them in third place.
Watch this player: Vitinha (PSG)
Since joining PSG from Porto at the beginning of the last campaign, the Portugal midfielder has been an essential member of the team and is now improving his goal total.
The 24-year-old has scored four goals in his previous five games and scored in both legs against Barca, including a superb long-range effort in Spain to square the score.
This season, Vitinha has scored nine goals across all competitions. His previous season high of four with Porto in 2021–2022 stands.
Important statistics
106: Since Opta started collecting statistics in 2003, the most recent goal scored in Ligue 1 was Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ winning penalty for Lyon against Brest last Thursday in the 16th minute of extra time.
11: After winning only one of their first 15 league games this season, Lyon has won 11 of their last 14 Ligue 1 games.
2: Ousmane Dembele scored twice as many goals for PSG against his old team, Barcelona, in their Champions League match as he had in his 23 Ligue 1 games this year.
