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On Saturday, the antepenultimate matches of this season's French "Ligue 1" championship were played. The fierce battle continues for tickets to the UEFA Cup tournament and to avoid relegation in the league.
The central match of the round took place in Marseille, where the local "Marseille" team, currently experiencing a crisis, hosted the champions "Lyon" who secured the title two rounds ago. Despite the fact that "Lyon" had nothing to lose in this match, and "Marseille" desperately needed a win, the visitors won the game 0-1.
The "Marseille" team has been unable to overcome the deep crisis lately, failing to collect points in several matches. Marseille club showed excellent football after the winter break, but later started stumbling and even withdrew from the title race, risking to lose their place in the UEFA tournaments.
Seizing on the stumble of "Marseille," "Rennes" secured a fantastic 4-0 victory against "Strasbourg." "Rennes" now has 55 points and overtakes "Marseille," who has 54 points, dropping them to the fifth position.
In sixth place, still fighting for a UEFA Cup ticket, is the "Saint-Etienne" team, who defeated the "Istres" team 2-0 at home, leaving them in the league.
In an important battle for survival, Edgaras Jankauskas' "Nice" team secured a minimal 1-0 victory against the seventh-placed French Cup finalist "Auxerre." Edgaras Jankauskas was not registered for this match, as has become customary.
Another great victory was achieved by the "Caen" team, seemingly determined to avoid relegation from the top division of French football. "Caen" defeated "Toulouse" 3-2 in a dramatic battle, strengthening their position in the fight for survival.
However, victories at the bottom of the table were also secured by "Caen," "Bastia," and "Ajaccio," pushing "Nantes" down to the penultimate position with a 1-0 loss to "Sochaux."
Results of all the 37th round matches:
- 3-1
- 1-1
- 0-2
- 0-1
- 3-2
- 1-0
- 4-0
- 1-0
- 2-0
- 2-3
Top scorers of the championship:
- Alexander Frei (Rennes) 20 goals
- Mickael Pagis (Strasbourg) 15 goals
- Juninho (Lyon) 13 goals
- Pedro Pauleta (P.S.G) 13 goals
- Pascal Feindouno (Saint-Etienne) 13 goals
- Sebastien Mazure (Caen) 12 goals
- John Utaka (Lens) 12 goals
- Ilan (Sochaux) 12 goals
