2023-12-01 06:33:09
Paris (AFP) – Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique de Marseille, sleeping giants of French football, must wake up respectively on Saturday in Lens and Sunday once morest Rennes: one to finally begin its mission of maintaining Ligue 1, the other to cling to the wagon of the “Europeans”.
Published on: 01/12/2023 – 07:33 Modified on: 01/12/2023 – 07:31
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At the top of the ranking, PSG (1st, 30 pts) goes to Le Havre to hope to outrun Nice (2nd, 29 pts) which travels to Nantes for this 14th day.
. The match: Lens-Lyon, in search of a rebound
These are two injured people who will try to heal their wounds on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.: RC Lens, crushed 6-0 by Arsenal in London on Wednesday, must find color in their Bollaert stadium and continue their climb in the standings.
Lyon, for its part, continues to sink into crisis. After their home defeat once morest Lille, OL remain last in the championship with seven points – five points behind non-relegation leader Toulouse.
As a result of these poor results, just two and a half months following his arrival, coach Fabio Grosso was fired on Thursday. The director of the training center Pierre Sage will act on an interim basis before the arrival of a third coach this season – Grosso had replaced Laurent Blanc.
After its heavy defeat in the Champions League, Lens (6th, 19 pts) has the opportunity to bounce back in L1. The objective: to return to Reims (5th, 20 pts) which hosts Strasbourg on Friday, and to neighboring Lille (4th, 23 pts) which hosts Metz on Sunday.
For their part, OL will have two very complicated trips in a row, to Lens then on Wednesday to Marseille for the postponed OM-OL match, which had been canceled due to the stone crushing of the Lyon coaches and the injury of coach Fabio Grosso.
Fabio Grosso on November 5, 2023 at Groupama Stadium before the reception of Metz in L1. Appointed on September 16 to replace Laurent Blanc, the Italian coach was dismissed on November 30 © JEFF PACHOUD / AFP
Before that, OM faces Julien Stéphan’s new Stade Rennais to hope to return to victory – their last success in L1 dating back to October 8 once morest Le Havre.
. The player: Marcin Bulka
Best defense in Ligue 1, Nice and its goalkeeper Marcin Bulka have only conceded four goals in 13 matches, including two from France’s best player, Kylian Mbappé. Thanks to their iron defense, the Aiglons are second, a small point behind PSG and are five points ahead of Monaco, 3rd.
It was PSG, during Nice’s victory at the Parc des Princes, who scored the last goal scored by Bulka in the championship, on September 15. Since then, Nice have played eight matches without conceding a single goal, or 720 minutes without counting added time.
Nice’s Polish goalkeeper Marcin Bulka following the L1 match won once morest Toulouse, in Nice, November 26, 2023 © Valery HACHE / AFP
For his first season in the shoes of N.1, Bulka has his sights set on the absolute invincibility record held by Gaëtan Huard. Between December 1992 and April 1993, the Bordeaux goalkeeper spent more than 13 matches (1,176 minutes) without picking up the ball in the back of the net.
Nice will find FC Nantes on its route on Saturday evening (9:00 p.m.), for the premiere of the new Nantes coach Jocelyn Gourvennec.
. The number: 8 once morest 14
Since the start of the season, Randal Kolo Muani has scored 3 times in L1, Gonçalo Ramos also, and Marco Asensio has scored two goals. Which makes, for the three number 9s of PSG, a total of eight goals in thirteen matches: a far cry from the 14 of Kylian Mbappé, top scorer in the championship.
Of the 34 goals scored by the Parisians, the ratio scored by central attackers seems very low. Several elements can explain it: firstly the omnipresence of Kylian Mbappé. After the departures of Messi and Neymar, Luis Enrique relies primarily on “Kyky” and the star returns it well.
Then, the three N.9s who have followed one another for 13 days at the forefront of the Parisian attack are all recruits. It’s up to them to make their mark in this championship that they are discovering (or rediscovering for the former Nantes player “RKM”).
PSG’s Portuguese striker Gonçalo Ramos (r.) and Newcastle’s Brazilian midfielder Joelinton (l.) during the Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United, in Paris, November 28, 2023 © FRANCK FIFE / AFP
Asensio has, of the three, the best ratio: two goals in three appearances, before his injury which sidelined him since mid-September. He might make his return to Le Havre. Ramos has the worst, with twelve appearances compared to eight for Kolo Muani. But both scored in the last match once morest Monaco (5-2).
© 2023 AFP
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