Ligue 1 Review | Podium chase heats up with eight games remaining | OneFootball

In all truth, the Ligue 1 title had been decided months ago. Paris Saint-Germain even for their lofty standards have been far and away the best team in the league; undefeated across the campaign and now 19 points above Olympique de Marseille after their Sunday night victory in Le Classique (3-1).

It would take a monumental collapse from Luis Enrique’s squad in the final eight games of the campaign for the title to end up anywhere other than in France’s capital city. It is simply a matter of time before PSG can officially claim their 13th Ligue 1 championship, and if results go their way, that could be as soon as the weekend following the international break.

However, below Les Parisiens, there is still much to play for with the chase for the remaining two podium positions and automatic qualification to the Champions League looking to be heating up nicely as we enter the homestretch. Marseille’s latest defeat to PSG leaves their grip on second under threat from AS Monaco and OGC Nice who both sit only two points behind.

Marseille reel from two defeats in a row

Recent results have not been kind to Marseille and for the first time under Roberto De Zerbi’s management, the club have suffered back-to-back defeats (a 1-0 loss to RC Lens at the Stade Vélodrome preceding the Classique result). It’s a dip in form that does not come at an ideal time for Les Phocéens and means that they have now lost four of their last eight games.

This run has allowed their immediate rivals to creep up the table (albeit neither Monaco nor Nice have been fully able to capitalise on these missteps) and eat slowly away at the breathing space that Marseille had held near the the start of the new year. Now any further slip-ups for De Zerbi’s men run the risk of letting Nice and Monaco overtake them.

Despite this, there will be some satisfaction in La Provence that their two immediate rivals will have to take points off one another when the league resumes following the international break as Nice has to travel to the Stade Louis II to face Monaco in the Derby de la Côte d’Azur. While Marseille have a relatively safe journey to face Stade de Reims who have yet to score in the league since appointing Samba Diawara as manager.

Don’t count out Lyon, Lille, and Strasbourg

Nice and Monaco can’t allow themselves to be fully distracted in their hunt for Marseille’s spot in the table, as Olympique Lyonnais, Lille OSC, and RC Strasbourg Alsace lurk, two, three, and four points behind them respectively. And none of these three teams can be written off from finishing the season in one of the automatic qualifying spots for the Champions League.

However, a quirk of the calendar does see some decisive-looking games between these three contenders for a podium position, which Monaco and Nice will be paying special attention to. Lyon will have to face Lille and then Strasbourg immediately after the international break in two matches that look as if they could directly shape the European race.

This week’s Ligue 1 subplots

GFFN | Nick Hartland