Paris (AFP)

End the stagnation and dispel the ambient doubt. The objective is double Friday for Lyon, back to the wall in Metz for the 26th day of Ligue 1 (8.45 pm), five days from facing Juventus Turin in the Champions League.

The Lyonnais are far from entering this eighth final of C1 on Wednesday in the best conditions: they have not won in L1 since January 26 against Toulouse (3-0). Since then, with two draws and two defeats, doubt has settled and European places have moved away (11th).

The meantime victories in the Coupe de France, in Nice (2-1) and against Marseille (1-0), are not enough to erase this observation. OL, which has not missed European qualification since 1997, is increasingly likely to finish far from the qualifying places in C1.

If a victory in Metz (15th) would probably not be enough to build up confidence before facing the eight-time defending Italian champion, led by the five-time Ballon d'Or Cristiano Ronaldo, a defeat in Moselle would plunge the 'OL in the crisis.

The objective is very different for Nice, also on Friday, at the opening of this 26th day. The Aiglons have, with the reception of Brest (13th), a golden opportunity to get closer to European places since they can return to a point in Lille, 4th and virtually qualified for the Europa League. And, on occasion, double their neighbor Monaco, current 5th, which does not spoil anything.

In the fight for the podium, Marseille (2nd, 52 points) hopes to chain against Nantes (12th) on Saturday a fourth consecutive victory and keep or even accentuate its mattress by 11 points on the third.

His closest pursuers, Rennes (3rd, 41 points) and Lille (40 points), will receive two bottom classification teams but with opposite trajectories: for the Britons, it will be Nîmes (17th) on Sunday, who remains on four victories; for the Northerners, Saturday will be Toulouse (20th), a draw and 14 defeats in the last 15 days.

Sunday, at the end of the weekend, Paris will want to evacuate against Bordeaux (10th) the frustration of its defeat in Dortmund, Tuesday in the knockout stages of the Champions League (2-1). Overtaken by the double from the Norwegian Erling Haaland, Neymar, scorer but inconstant, and Kylian Mbappé, too discreet, will no doubt be keen to make up for it.

Program for the 26th day of Ligue 1:

Friday

(19:00) Nice - Brest

(8:45 p.m.) Metz - Lyon

Saturday

(5.30 p.m.) Marseille - Nantes

(8:00 p.m.) Angers - Montpellier

Strasbourg - Amiens

Dijon - Monaco

Lille - Toulouse

Sunday

(3:00 p.m.) Saint-Etienne - Reims

(5:00 p.m.) Rennes - Nîmes

(9 p.m.) Paris SG - Bordeaux

© 2020 AFP