Talking points: France's grand finale
Monday, March 16, 2015
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Do Paris Saint-Germain have the energy to retain their title? Can Olympique Lyonnais' young stars go the distance? UEFA.com's Christian Châtelet ponders.
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Paris Saint-Germain's 3-2 loss at FC Girondins de Bordeaux and leaders Olympique Lyonnais' draw at Olympique de Marseille seem to promise a thrilling finish in Ligue 1. UEFA.com's Christian Châtelet wonders how it will all pan out.
A dramatic denouement
Lyon might have started the week four points clear of Paris, but a 0-0 draw at Marseille – in which both sides spurned decent chances – means the gap is just two points, with OM only two further back. It has not been as close at this stage of a campaign since 2009/10, when Didier Deschamps's Marseille won the title.
Paris under pressure
Laurent Blanc's side are chasing glory in the UEFA Champions League, League Cup and French Cup, having already won the Super Cup, but winning an unbelievable quintuple will involve withstanding unprecedented pressure. In practice, they have five huge games between 5 and 25 April: Le Classique at Marseille, a French Cup semi-final against AS Saint-Étienne, the League Cup final versus SC Bastia and then both legs of a UEFA Champions League quarter-final. A request to have their French Cup game postponed was refused. "We're expected to win every game," Zlatan Ibrahimović said. "Schedule or tiredness cannot be an excuse."
Lyon's young lions
In Saturday's game at the Stade Vélodrome, five of Lyon's starters were academy graduates, with the club's investment in player development powering their successes this season. The team that reached last season's UEFA Europa League quarter-finals has matured under Hubert Fournier. With scouts swooping in, their 23-goal top scorer Alexandre Lacazette and 'French Messi' Nabil Fekir, 21, may never have get another chance to win a title with Lyon.
Monaco in the mix?
Runners up in 2013/14, Monaco have recovered from a dismal start, slowly clawing their way up the table so they are now eight points off the top, but an exceptionally mean defence could yet earn them something a little more than the top-three finish they have been aiming for. "We have nothing to fear from anybody," said defender Aymen Abdennour. "We'll go as far as we can."
Has Zlatan lost his mojo?
The big Swede scored twice on Sunday, but there is a feeling that his contribution has not been as immense as it was in past seasons. With 14 goals, he is third in the Ligue 1 goalscorers ranking, having had 25 at the same stage of the 2012/13 and 2013/14 campaigns. The 33-year-old's dismissal in his side's UEFA Champions League draw at Chelsea FC may have consequences for Blanc's men in Europe, and Paris need him to be at his sharpest as the campaign reaches the sharp end.