Lille came close to clinching a ticket to the Champions League after Sunday's victory away to Paris FC in a match that witnessed a sending off and two missed penalties, while Rennes strengthened its European fortunes and Marseille stumbled against Nice.
Published on: 04/27/2026 - 00:59 Last updated: 04/27/2026 - 07:35
Lille is on the verge of reserving its place in the Champions League next season after it returned with a valuable 1-0 victory from Paris FC Stadium on Sunday in the 31st stage of the French Football League.
The victory came thanks to Belgian Mathias Fernandez Pardo, the only striker in the team's lineup, as he scored the goal of the match in the 27th minute from a penalty kick, before another shot hit the crossbar.
Paris FC suffered an additional blow after finishing the match with ten players after Pierre Le-Melo was sent off for receiving a second warning 5 minutes before the end of normal time, at a time when the Algerian substitute Ilan Kais Kabal missed a penalty kick that hit the post and was prepared for the Italian substitute Luca Colliocho, whose shot was blocked by Turkish goalkeeper Berki Ozer (74).
Coach Bruno Genesio's team continued to chase a European ticket, after raising its score to 57 points, equal to Lyon III, which beat Auxerre 3-2 on Saturday.
Genesio explained, "The most important thing for us was to catch up with Lyon, and maintain the lead with Rennes, and with Marseille before tonight's match (against Nice), as well as achieving a slight lead over Monaco, which is also important," before adding, "It was a difficult match against a team that was in high spirits."
Lille benefits from a theoretically easier program than Lyon, as it has two home matches against Le Havre and Auxerre, from the bottom of the standings, in the last three rounds, in addition to an external confrontation against Monaco, while Lyon will meet fifth-placed Rennes, which in turn is competing for a European place, then Toulouse and Lens.
Lille's series without losing also reached 11 matches since February 1, while Paris FC's series stopped at 8 matches, after suffering its first defeat under the supervision of its new coach Antoine Kombouare (4 wins and 3 draws) and after three successive victories at its home stadium, "Jean Point."
For its part, Rennes took an additional step towards European competitions with a 2-1 victory over its guest Nantes thanks to Valentin Rongier's goal in the second minute of stoppage time in the second half.
With this victory, Rennes strengthened its position in fifth place with 56 points, one point away from Lille, while Nantes remained in seventeenth place (penultimate), 5 points behind Auxerre, sixteenth.
As for Marseille, it settled for a 1-1 draw with its guest Nice, leaving it in sixth place with 53 points and reducing its chances of a Champions League ticket, after failing to achieve victory for the second match in a row after losing to Lorient 0-2 in the previous stage.
Marseille's goal came through Danish Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (66'), before Nice equalized in the final minutes through Ivory Coast's Elie Wahi (88' from a penalty kick).
In the rest of the results, Strasbourg defeated its host Lorient 3-2, while the confrontation between Le Havre and its guest Metz ended in an exciting 4-4 draw.
France 24/AFP
Keywords related to the article
The content you want to browse is no longer in service or is currently unavailable.
