Last Champions League place, relegation to be decided in Ligue 1 finale
Nice hope to be celebrating Champions League qualification on Saturday but are one of four teams still in with a chance of finishing fourth in Ligue 1 on the last night of the season (Valery HACHE)
Title-winners Paris Saint-Germain still have the Champions League final to look forward to later this month but the Ligue 1 season reaches its climax on Saturday with European places still up for grabs and a quartet of clubs scrapping to avoid relegation.
PSG secured a fourth consecutive domestic title more than a month ago and will collect their trophy following Saturday's match at home to Auxerre.
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Luis Enrique's side will then turn their thoughts to the French Cup final against Reims on May 24 and the Champions League final against Inter Milan in Munich a week later.
Behind them, Marseille and Monaco clinched podium places, and guaranteed access to next season's Champions League, with victories last weekend combined with favourable results elsewhere.
That leaves one spot in Europe's elite club competition to be decided, with four teams -- Nice, Lille, Strasbourg and Lyon -- still in contention for a place in the third qualifying round of the Champions League.
Nice, who fell short in the Champions League play-offs in 2017, are best-placed to take the remaining spot as they come into their final match at home to Brest in fourth place and with the best goal difference.
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A 1-0 win for the Ineos-owned outfit would leave Lille needing to win by six goals, or Strasbourg requiring an eight-goal margin of victory for them to go above Nice.
"I prefer to be slightly above the others in the table than slightly below them," admitted Nice coach Franck Haise, who took Lens into the Champions League two years ago.
"To get fourth place, which would not be trivial, first of all we need to win. We know that."
A slip-up would give a real chance to Lille, who finished fourth last season and then came through the qualifying rounds of the Champions League before going on to reach the last 16.
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Strasbourg also retain hope of a first campaign in Europe's elite competition since 1979/80, despite the frustration of seeing a 12-game unbeaten run ended in a 2-1 loss at Angers last weekend.
- Saint-Etienne to survive? -
Lille and Strasbourg are both at home to relegation-threatened opponents, in the shape of Reims and Le Havre respectively.
Lyon, meanwhile, know their chances of taking fourth are extremely slim. They must win at home to Angers and hope the three teams above them all lose, with the consequences of missing out on the huge prize money on offer in the Champions League likely very serious for them.
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"First of all, we need to focus on ourselves," said Lyon coach Paulo Fonseca. "We know it's going to be very difficult for all the other teams to lose, but we must go out looking to win our match without thinking about the rest."
The team finishing fifth will go into the Europa League with sixth entering the Conference League, although seventh place will be enough to qualify for Europe provided PSG win the French Cup.
At the bottom, Saint-Etienne gave themselves a lifeline last weekend in their bid to avoid an immediate return to the second tier.
A win at home to Toulouse will see them grab the lifeline of a two-legged play-off against either Dunkerque or Metz to stay in the top flight -- provided Le Havre do not win.
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Reims and Nantes are also not yet safe from the danger of finishing in the bottom three.
Key stats
4 - Four teams go into the last night of the season with a chance of taking France's fourth and final qualifying spot for the Champions League
21 - PSG's Ousmane Dembele has 21 goals and is on course to end the season as Ligue 1's leading scorer, although Marseille's Mason Greenwood is just two behind on 19
9- The number of PSG players named in the Ligue 1 team of the season -- Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier and Lyon forward Rayan Cherki were the only two from elsewhere to make the select XI
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Fixtures on Saturday (kick-offs 1900 GMT)
Lens v Monaco, Lille v Reims, Lyon v Angers, Marseille v Rennes, Nantes v Montpellier, Nice v Brest, Paris Saint-Germain v Auxerre, Saint-Etienne v Toulouse, Strasbourg v Le Havre
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