The stake of this 15th day of the French championship was double: to finish on a good note before the hiatus of the World Cup in Qatar, while avoiding injuries of internationals.
By Valentin Baudry
The 15
Sunday, at the Parc des Princes, Paris Saint-Germain easily defeated Auxerre (5-0), thanks to its trio of stars attackers. Christophe Galtier, serene on the form of his troops, aligned the Argentinian Lionel Messi, Brazilian Neymar from the start, and French Kylian Mbappé (goalscorer at 11 e minute), all three very expected by their respective selections in Qatar. The PSG coach was also able to give a quarter of an hour of play and confidence to Presnel Kimpembe, the central defender of the Blues, just returned from an Achilles tendon injury.
If Paris remains undefeated this season in Ligue 1, his runner-up, the RC Lens has signed his fifth success in a row by offering himself Clermont at the Bollaert stadium on Saturday (2-1). Impressed by his opponent, the Auvergne technician Pascal Gastien will even let out: “Lens looks like PSG, from a collective point of view”. Finally, Stade Rennais secured its third place against Toulouse (2-1), remaining on eleven consecutive games without defeat in the league.
Lower in the ranking, Lyon and Nice neutralized (1-1), while Nantes and Montpellier succeeded respectively to go up Ajaccio (2-2) and Reims (1-1) respectively to hang a saving match . Angers, defeated against Lille (1-0), rushed to the 20
the Blues for the moment in full Before going to Qatar
Beyond the points race, the shadow that hovered over the lawns at this weekend was those of injuries. If Kylian Mbappé and Presnel Kimpembe went beyond, three international tricolor stays on the suspended: Mattéo Guendouzi, Jordan Veretout and Youssouf Fofana were still playing, Sunday evening, during the match opposing Monaco to Marseille.
“My obsession was that my team could express themselves as freely as possible without the psychosis of an injury,” admitted the Parisian coach Christophe Galtier, at the end of the meeting against Auxerre and once assured that his team was intact. “It would have been very sad for me that one of my players injured before the World Cup and I quickly made the changes to spare each other,” he said.
This last -minute hard blow so much feared, the Moroccan striker Zakaria Aboukhlal had the bitter experience on Saturday, against Rennes. Touched in the thigh, the Toulouse winger was replaced at the break. After first encouraging medical teams, he obtained the green light to reach the ranks of the Atlas Lions. But he will still have to take additional examinations to be sure to be part of the Qatari adventure.
a new “boxing day” for the resumption
Ligue 1 will wait on December 28, only ten days after the World Cup final, to resume its rights … in an unprecedented format. For the first time, the sixteenth day of the French championship will adopt a derivative of the famous English “boxing day”, where all the teams will play on the same date.
At the heart of the end of year celebrations, while Ligue 1 is traditionally on break and many players will be absent in the wake of the World Cup, the choice may surprise. Especially since the Professional Football League has already given up for the 2023-2024 season.