Arrests, long farts and Champions League battle – just a regular Ligue 1 week
Reading Time: 4min | Wed. 11.05.22. | 16:25
Nice and Rennes continue their quest for the last available place in the Europe's most prestigious competition
Even thou the French champion was decided weeks ago (and it's PSG again), it doesn't mean that the Ligue 1 is boring. On the contrary, the fierce battle for the Champions League spot is in place for months now, and two rounds before the end, as many as four teams are battling that last available spot, since the first two are occupied by PSG and Marseille. But other stories are in the headlines too, like farting for example (!?), and the story came fro non other than the respectable L' Equipe.
While Nice has a much easier task with Saint Etienne, Rennes has a tough road trip to the France Cup winners Nantes. In the first game between the clubs, Rennes won 1-0 and they would be happy with the same result, especially since the home team is in crisis since winning the French Cup against Nice (1-0). Their coach Antoine Kombouare admitted is in tight relations with the president Waldemar Kita and his stay at the helm is not certain at all. Apart from that, three affiliates of Nantes president Waldemar Kita were taken into custody on Tuesday as part of an investigation into player transfer. The charges relate to commissions paid to intermediaries. They have been released since, but the Nantes public prosecutor announced that the investigations will continue. So, with a club in turmoil and nothing to play for until the end, it seems that Rennes must use this opportunity and win on a hostile ground in order to reclaim the third spot.
Nice also has a chance to surpass Rennes and they have an easier task – they are playing at home to relegation strugglers Saint Etienne. But, all is not well for Nice in the last couple of months, as they struggle to score goals. In the last 18 Ligue 1 games, Christophe Galtier's team has scored more than 2 goals only once, while they scored two goals only three times. Their efficiency is the biggest reason they are not in the third place already. Since February, Nice has scored only eight league goals, and compared to Rennes (36), Marseille (28) and Monaco (24), that is really bad. On top of that, the coach himself admitted disagreements with the director of football Julien Fournier while assuring that these were normal.
Former Saint Etienne and Lille coach signed this season with Nice, even thou he almost agreed everything with Lyon. The famous French club is in deep crisis as they opted for Peter Bosz when Galtier changed his mind and their sporting director and former player Juninho also left his post during the season. He made a lot of bad decisions, both on player recruitment and coaches changes and eventually left the club, but also commented on same strange L' Equipe story about farting.
🚨 Marcelo was permanently removed from the Lyon squad for farting in the locker room and laughing about it with his teammates.
— scollings05 (@scollings05) May 10, 2022
Juninho, who did not like him, decided to take the opportunity to remind him of his poor performances on the pitch and fired him.
(Source: L’Equipe)
The respectable French sports newspapers ran a deep analysis on Lyon's poor season and among other things, they revealed a rather bizarre story in which Lyon defender Marcelo had been demoted to the reserves earlier this season due to his farting in the dressing room (?!). Both the player (who is now with Bordeaux) and Juninho went to Twitter to deny these claims and while Marcelo was shot and to the point, the Brazilian tried to be funny and it sounded strange.
“Thanks to L’Equipe, after a long time, I have come back to Twitter to deny all the allegations. Journalism nowadays is a joke!” said Marcelo while Juninho replied: “You see, I told you! Defenders need to fart hard, for a long time, and it needs to smell. Yours was only strong, so it was weak”.
And another team which will be looking at tonight's features with fear will be Bordeaux. The famous French club and former champion is all but relegated from the Ligue 1, for the first time since 1991/92 season and tonight, it might be over for them. If by any chance Saint Etienne, also in relegation battle, manage to win against their former coach Christophe Galtier, Bordeaux will be automatically relegated. In case of any other result, such as a home win or a draw, Zinedine Zidane's former club will have another (slim) chance to avoid the drop.
LIGUE 1 - ROUND 36
Friday
LOSC Lille - Monaco 1-2 (0-1)
/Gomes 69 - Tchouameni 42, 75/
Saturday
Brest - Strasbourg 0-1 (0-0)
/Gameiro 72/
Sunday
Metz - Olympique Lyon 3-2 (2-1)
/Pajot 27, Lamkel Ze 40, Boulaya 90 - Dembele 43, 84/
Angers - Bordeaux 4-1 (2-0)
/Cho 5, Mendy 36, Bahoken 62, Pereira Lage 90- Mara 60/
Clermont - Montpellier 2-1 (1-1)
/Rashani 4, Bayo 69 - Chotard 32/
Reims - Lens 1-2 (1-0)
/Zeneli 28 - Sotoca 55, Fofana 90+1/
Lorient -Olympique Marseille 0-3 (0-1)
/Dieng 39, Guendouzi 48, Gerson 67/
PSG - Troyes 2-2 (2-1)
/Marquinhos 6, Neymar 25 pen - Ugbo 30, Tardieu 49 pen/
Wednesday
20:00: (1.57) Nice (4.10) Saint-Etienne (6.75)
22:00: (5.40) Nantes (3.80) Rennes (1.73)
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