French monuments in trouble while PSG prepare for Champions League final
Saint-Etienne and Lyon, who are local rivals, are facing up to the end of the French season with trepidation (JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK)
While Paris Saint-Germain are looking forward to the Champions League final and have already wrapped up another Ligue 1 title, two of France's biggest clubs with proud European track records are facing the end of the season with trepidation.
PSG beat Arsenal in their semi-final on Wednesday to set up a final at the end of May in Munich against Inter Milan, the second in their history after a defeat by Bayern Munich in 2020.
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It will be the eighth time that a French side has appeared in the final of Europe's elite club competition, with Marseille in 1993 still the only team from the country to have won the trophy.
Saint-Etienne were beaten finalists in 1976, when they lost 1-0 to Franz Beckenbauer's Bayern in Glasgow.
Almost half a century later, they stand on the brink of being relegated to Ligue 2, just a year after coming back up and then being bought by Canadian billionaire Larry Tanenbaum.
With two games of the season remaining they sit in the automatic relegation places, above only a Montpellier side who are already down.
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Les Verts, whose tally of 10 French titles is bettered only by PSG on 13, are four points adrift of Le Havre in the relegation play-off spot and five away from outright safety.
That means a defeat away to Reims on Saturday will send them down, while a draw will effectively mean relegation too due to their poor goal difference.
However, a win will keep their hopes alive going into the last day, provided they also get some favours from elsewhere.
"The whole season has been a struggle and a fight for our lives. There is nothing new about that," said Saint-Etienne's Norwegian coach, Eirik Horneland.
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"We cannot wait for others anymore. We have to help ourselves. We need two victories to stay in the league."
Saint-Etienne's great rivals Lyon are seventh with two games to play, their hopes of Champions League qualification were dealt a huge blow when they lost 2-1 to Lens last weekend.
Lyon appointed Paulo Fonseca as coach at the end of January in the belief that he could take the seven-time French champions back to Europe's top table.
However, they were three points off the top four then and they still are now, meaning it appears a first Champions League campaign since they got to the semi-finals in 2020 is probably beyond them.
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Saturday's trip to third-placed Monaco is a game they simply must win, with the consequences of failing to reach the Champions League potentially disastrous for Lyon.
The club owned by the American John Textor's Eagle Football Group have huge debts and were warned earlier this season by the French footballing authorities that they would be relegated if drastic action was not taken to reduce their liabilities.
"We need to win our last two games and then see where that leaves us," Fonseca said this week.
"It is six years since the club qualified for the Champions League so this is important.
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"I want to be the coach who takes OL (Lyon) back there. It will be hard but it is possible."
Player to watch: Andre Ayew
The 35-year-old Ghanaian is hoping to fire Le Havre to survival for the second season running.
On Saturday he will come up against Marseille, the club where he starred at the beginning of his career, making over 200 appearances. It is also the club where his father Abedi Pele played, winning the Champions League in 1993.
Ayew is in line to make the 500th league appearance of his career, spread across stints in England, Qatar and Turkey as well as in France.
Key stats
3 - PSG have lost their last two Ligue 1 games but have not suffered three consecutive league defeats since 2010
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6 - Saint-Etienne are on the brink of being relegated for the sixth time in their history
2 - Just two points separate five teams, from Marseille in second to Strasbourg in sixth, in the fight for Champions League qualification
Fixtures on Saturday (kick-offs 1900 GMT)
Angers v Strasbourg, Auxerre v Nantes, Brest v Lille, Le Havre v Marseille, Monaco v Lyon, Montpellier v Paris Saint-Germain, Reims v Saint-Etienne, Rennes v Nice, Toulouse v Lens
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