Round 34: Tension reached its peak © EuroFootball.com

T

his weekend saw ten matches played in the French football championship "Ligue 1", after which, with only four rounds left until the end of the championship, tension reached its peak, as only 3 points now separate the 1st and 3rd positions.

The current leaders of the championship, "Lyon", managed to snatch a draw against "Bordeaux" in the last minutes of the match after Vihasho Dhorasoo's goal, preventing "Monaco" from reducing the gap to a minimum by beating "Nice" 2-1. Now these teams are separated by only two points.

One point behind the leaders is the capital's team "P.S.G.", who failed to beat "Strasbourg" and played to a draw. In case of a victory, "P.S.G.", who this week managed to beat "Nantes" after a dramatic penalty shootout and reached the French Cup final, would have maintained their second position and now trails "Lyon" by just one point.

In the fight for a spot in the UEFA Cup next season, "Marseille" lost crucial three points by losing to one of the underdogs, "Metz", and dropped to 7th place. "Nantes" took advantage of "Marseille's" stumble, moving up to 6th place by beating "Lille".

In a crucial match for a spot in the next season's UEFA Champions League, "Auxerre" managed to secure three vital points against the currently bottom-placed team on the table, "Le Mans", who have been showing excellent form lately. They defeated "Auxerre" 2-1 and greatly improved their position in the fight for survival in "Ligue 1". Meanwhile, "Auxerre's" loss was used by this year's French League Cup winners, "Sochaux", who regained their 3rd position by beating "Montpellier".

Results of the 34th round of matches:

1-2

[1-0] 10'

[1-1] 33'

[1-2] 43'

0-1

[0-1] Mehdi Merini 26'

0-0

2-1

[1-0] (o.g) 5'

[2-0] 30'

[2-1] 47'

1-1

[1-0] 22'

[1-1] 50'

2-0

[1-0] 23'

[2-0] 43'

4-0

[1-0] 12'

[2-0] 16'

[3-0] 35'

[4-0] 63'

3-1

[1-0] 5'

[1-1] 15'

[2-1] 20'

[3-1] 68'

0-0

1-1

[1-0] Marouane Chamakh 59'

[1-1] 86'