Who from Lille, OL, PSG or Monaco will win the title of champion of France at the end of the 2020-2021 season?
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SIPA / 20 Minutes Editing
By winning Sunday evening at the Parc des Princes, AS Monaco returned to the title race.
The suspense is total this season in Ligue 1, since only six points separate Lille (1st) from ASM (4th), with OL and PSG interspersed.
A brief overview of the forces involved in the attack of the last third of the championship.
Who said that you could not vibrate in a Ligue 1 season behind closed doors?
By winning on the lawn of PSG Sunday evening, the Monegasques have definitely reshuffled the cards in the race for the title.
They are four, with Losc and OL, to be able to dream, only six points separating the Lille leader from ASM, 4th.
It had been a long time since we had seen such suspense.
A brief overview of the forces involved, with more or less good faith, of course.
Lille (1st, 58 points)
The trick that can mess it all up: foam legs theory
We would not have bet our shirt at the start of the season on Losc, the solid leader of the Talent League.
Hence this fear of seeing the calves of the Northerners tremble in the final sprint, a bit like the porridge delivered in the Europa League against Ajax.
Such a tight title race requires a solid psychological background and it is not forbidden to think that the end of the Mastiffs season will above all be played out in the minds.
The match that can change everything: The derby against Lens (matchday 36)
Unbeaten for the moment against their direct opponents, Lille can approach the bust high (and the collar raised) the return matches against Lyon, Paris and Monaco in March-April.
On the other hand, this small trip to Lens three days from the end has all the trap match.
The RCL is working hard this season against the big guys and will have the opportunity to put an end to 14 years of famine against the neighbor.
If in addition, that can prevent him from becoming champion ...
The question everyone is asking themselves: Doesn't Galtier deserve the title of champion?
In an article dated last November, we tried to explain to you how Christophe Galtier had become the sexiest French coach on the market, after years of getting the most out of his players, all this while producing champagne for the eyes. and throat.
Come on, a small title of champion and we will let it fly to a new challenge abroad.
Percentage of chance of being sacred (
20 Minute
s
poll
/ wet finger): 35%
The Mastiffs are incredibly solid, and they are still the best placed at this time.
Lyon (2nd, 55 points)
The match that can change everything: Lyon-Rennes (28th day, March 3)
Admittedly, this match is still quite early in this end of the season.
But the reception of Stade Rennais is always a moment of anguish for the supporters.
Not a team has bothered OL so much in the 21st century, with three small victories at home in the past 16 years.
And we don't know why, but we can easily imagine the Rennais, with the full collection since early 2021, relaunching as if by chance at Parc OL.
But if the Lyonnais were to finally win as boss, it would be a sign that not much can scare them off in the attack of the final sprint.
The thing that can screw it up: Memphis heads elsewhere
JMA may claim that he still believes in it, Memphis Depay will leave free at the end of this season.
We can even think that he has already agreed with Barça, after the assiduous court of the Blaugrana last summer.
So yes, he will try to leave OL in apotheosis, but by dint of watching the matches of Messi and his friends to see if they will succeed in saving the furniture in La Liga, he risks leaving an influx and it will end up being felt on the ground.
The question everyone is asking: will Rudi Garcia ever make a change before the 80th minute?
Since finding the winning formula, in Strasbourg in the heart of October, Rudi Garcia has never changed his plans.
There are some ad hoc adjustments, of course, but the constant is there: those who start on the bench know that they will come out at best for 5-10 minutes.
So even without the European Cup, beware of the lack of juice in the last days.
Because it's going to be weird for Cherki to have to play a full half in Matchday 37 to save the house against the Nîmes crocs.
Percentage chance of being sacred (
20 Minute
poll
/ wet finger): 20%
The Lyon calendar is surely the most complicated and we can not say that the last matches to date exude total serenity.
PSG (3rd, 54 points)
The thing that can screw everything up: A good course in C1
Be careful,
paradox alert
: what if PSG's biggest dream was also the one that was going to cost him the league title at the end of the season?
After their final last August, the Parisians aspire more than ever to win the Cup with big ears, and it is not the lesson inflicted on Barça that will make them change their minds.
With the risk, of course, of still leaving feathers in L1, where the motivation is not the same.
The match that can change everything: The reception of Lille (31st day)
This season, PSG are weak with the strong.
He only took a poor little point out of a possible fifteen against a Top 5 member this season, and any further misstep against a competitor would be fatal.
However, a few days after a trip to Parc OL at the end of March, the Parisians will receive Lille at the beginning of April, all four days before the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League - we said no to a
comeback
this time.
It is difficult to see how that could not play in the heads of Paris.
The question everyone is asking: Would Pochettino survive losing the title?
You can giggle while reading this question, but we're very serious.
Because PSG never do anything like the others, already, and can weigh down a coach six months after saying that he had been chosen to build.
A failure at the national level would be really bad, in any case, given the offensive armada available.
If Ancelotti, who arrived along the way, had been retained in 2012 after being stolen the title by Montpellier, the Italian did not have the same workforce available.
Percentage of chance of being sacred (
20 Minute
poll
/ wet finger): 35%
There is a bit of delay and the C1 to manage, but the force of habit is important.
Monaco (4th, 52 points)
The match that can change everything: Monaco-Lyon (35th day)
There will have been the reception of Lille, during March, but it is certainly this match against OL that will change the end of the Monegasque season.
We remember the first leg, when ASM had completely taken the water in 45 minutes.
4-0 at the break, and the start of the revival, finally.
Since then, apart from an air gap in December, the ASM has not stopped winning.
Revenge on OL to settle on the roof of L1 four days from the end, that would make a good script ', no?
The thing that can screw things up: Maripan gets freaked out
At the cellar at the start of the season, the Chilean defender is the X factor of this Monegasque team.
His return to the team in December stabilized - well almost - a rearguard which had an unfortunate tendency to take water everywhere.
Above all, he is incredibly efficient, with 5 goals in 11 starts.
Better than half of the attackers of L1 (cuckoo Benedetto).
So we do not wish the ASM to lose its talisman on an injury to the con, it would miss a lot in the home stretch.
The question everyone is asking: Can you be champion without a goalkeeper?
Whether Lecomte or Mannone, Monaco cannot rely on a reliable goalkeeper this season.
When Maignan or Navas shoot on average 80% of shots stopped, they painfully exceed 50%.
Oh, no big blunder to report, but never a game where they saved the house either.
We will pass you the adage about great teams and great goalkeepers, all that, but still.
It's hard to be champion by scoring almost two goals per game.
Percentage chance of being sacred (
20 Minute
poll
/ wet finger): 10%
The Monegasques still start from very, far away.
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League 1
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AS Monaco
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