Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 RC Lens

THE MATCH

Messi and Neymar Jr. returned from injury and suspension respectively for what would be PSG's title party - provided they avoided defeat - but Lens evidently hadn't read the script, with Seko Fofana fizzing an early shot narrowly over Keylor Navas's crossbar (7'). Jean-Louis Leca then raced off his line to deny Acharf Hakimi at the other end (26') but Lens continued to give as good as they got. Neymar sent Kylian Mbappé clear with a sumptuous through-ball late in the half, but after sprinting clear of Kevin Danso, the world's best young striker could only fire high of Leca's goal (36'). Jonathan Clauss - who recently and deservedly became a France international teammate of Mbappé's - then fired a shot straight at Navas after some neat one-touch passing on the edge of the PSG box (39'). Fofana sent another effort just over the bar at the end of the half (42') and referee Amaury Delerue's whistle for half-time went with the deadlock intact and the Parc des Princes faithful none too impressed.

Messi makes the difference

PSG were close to taking the lead minutes after the restart after catching the Lens defence unawares with a quickly taken free-kick, but Mbappé's chip was saved by Leca before Christopher Wooh cleared his second attempt off the line (52'). Danso was given his marching orders soon after, earning a second yellow card for going over the top of the ball and catching Neymar with a wild challenge (57'). Messi took the subsequent free-kick, which was saved by Leca (59'). Messi finally opened the scoring a little less than 10 minutes later. Neymar slipped the ball to his former Barcelona teammate and the Argentine did the rest, curling an unstoppable effort beyond Leca for 1-0 (68'). Mbappé's tried to add gloss to the scoreline late on, but after nutmegging and then racing past Cheick Doucouré, he saw his penalty claim waved away (79'). Corentin Jean pulled one back late on (88') - enough for a 1-1 draw, but not enough to deny PSG the title.

THE PLAYER: Lionel Messi

Messi turned a lot of heads in swapping Barcelona for the French capital at the start of the season. The 34-year-old has come in for some criticism from certain sections of the media, but his strike tonight was his 18th goal involvement in just 21 Ligue 1 Uber Eats outings, and it was fitting that this one sealed the Ligue 1 Uber Eats title.

THE STAT: 10

PSG claimed their 10th Ligue 1 Uber Eats title, drawing level with AS Saint-Étienne as French football's record champions, with victory here. Only two of their previous league triumphs - in 1986 and 1994 - came before the Qatar Sports Investments era which began in 2011.