Check out what's at stake at the end of the season as clubs behind the Parisian champions battle it out for European places. Champions League, Europe League... all the permutations right here!
The last four rounds of Ligue 1 Uber Eats season promise to be exciting, especially for the places of honour behind the Parisian champions, with second through fifth earning European berths... or maybe sixth too?
OM in the box seat for second
Thanks to their narrow but solid victory in Reims (0-1) last Sunday, Olympique de Marseille (2nd) are in a strong position to stay the course until the end of the season, and clinch direct UEFA Champions League groups take qualification. According to Opta's Predictor tool, OM has an 87.5% chance of finishing runner-up.
In this race for second place, while there are fewer contenders than for third, the uncertainty is also more measured with the cushion of 6 points in favour of Marseille. With 12 points still up for grabs, neither Lyon (13 points behind 2nd place), nor LOSC (-14 points) can for example catch up with the Sampaoli's successful side (6 wins in 7 games).
So much so that mathematically, there are six of them who can still claim it. Notably Rennes (3rd, 6 points behind OM) and Strasbourg (6th, 9 pts) who will face OM in R37 and R38 respectively. Although we can't say what will happen in this battle, we can say that all sides concerned will be giving their all for direct access to the prestigious and lucrative Champions League group stage.
>> OM's run-in
Big fight for 3rd
The race for third place promises to be even more tightly contested with just four games left in the season.
The small gap between third and seventh (five points) suggests that there will be a big fight among the podium contenders. The most impressive club is Monaco (4th), who have won six straight games and have the same points total as Stade Rennais (3rd).
These two teams, Nice (5th), Strasbourg (6th) and Lens (7th), who drew in Paris (1-1) on Saturday, can still hope to finish on the podium. Even Olympique Lyonnais (8th, seven points from 3rd place) and LOSC (9th, 8 points) are still mathematically in the running, although their chances of reaching the podium this season have been reduced.
Extra Champions League place?
In addition to offering the greatest suspense, the race for third place could be accompanied by a nice surprise for the club that will win it on the evening of R38. Indeed, the club could find themselves directly qualified for the Champions League group stage! For this to happen, the club in question would have to hope that the Europa League is won by a club who have qualified for the Champions League group stage via their league finish.
If the future winner of the Europa League were already qualified for the next Champions League via their championship this season, France, fifth in the UEFA rankings after the 2021-22 season, would get a third direct ticket to the group stage. Otherwise, the third-placed Ligue 1 Uber Eats side would enter the third qualifying round (league route), before having to go through a play-off to hope to join PSG (champions and therefore already qualified) and their runners-up in the group stage.
>> Stade Rennais' run-in
>> AS Monaco's run-in
>> RC Strasbourg Alsace's run-in
What if 6th place were European?
In the race for places of honour, 4th qualifies for the group stage of the Europa League, and the 5th place for the play-offs for access to the Europa Conference League group stage.
And one scenario could even revive some clubs that are lagging behind in the race for Europe: if OGC Nice (currently 5th in the ranking) finish among the top five while qualifying for the Europa League group stage by winning the Coupe de France against FC Nantes on May 7, then sixth place will qualify for the play-offs for access to the Europa Conference League group stage.
.jpg?h=562&iar=0&w=400&hash=0B0FAD2C6C11CD8B9E7B5F1DA5E18A26)
