Ligue 1: 3 Big Questions for the Weekend
Will PSG finish another part of the Quadruple and can Monaco return to the Champions League?
Will PSG be crowned Ligue 1 champions with a win at Le Havre?
The Quadruple is on for PSG. It's not just the media saying it, but the PSG players themselves according to Coach Luis Enrique. "Of course [we speak about the quadruple]. It’s a motivation. It is a way of making our mark on the club’s history and that of the city," revealed the unusually cheerful Spanish coach.
Part One of that four-tiered task was completed with the Trophee des Champions victory in January. The second part could be wrapped up on Saturday. If PSG defeat relegation-threatened Le Havre in the Parc des Princes, then the Ligue 1 title will be off the list. After that, things get significantly trickier. Part Three of the quest gets underway with the first leg of the Champions League semifinal against Borussia Dortmund, where the PSG players are facing the Yellow Wall in the Bundesliga side's home.
With a Coupe de France final against Lyon also due in May, Luis Enrique seems to be relishing the prospect of making history in his first season with PSG. "I had never thought of such a positive scenario. It's a splendid moment," said the normally grumpy manager, who is looking for his first league title win since picking up LaLiga with Barcelona in 2016.
👉 Saturday 2:50PM ET - PSG vs. Le Havre - Live on beIN SPORTS
Can Monaco complete Champions League treble?
Monaco are on the brink of clinching a return to the Champions League for the first time since the 2018/2019 campaign, and the Monte-Carlo outfit have certainly earned that right over the last week. Both of their direct rivals for an automatic qualification spot were vanquished over four days with Brest and Lille defeated without a single goal being conceded.
"It’s a big step in the fight for the Champions League places," said a delighted Monaco coach, Adi Hütter, after the win over Lille. A victory on Sunday at Lyon will all but seal their place in the competition next season. That will leave Brest and Lille to fight it out over which team takes Ligue 1's third automatic place in the Champions League and which will end up in a qualifying round.
👉 Sunday 12:55PM ET - Lyon vs. Monaco - Live on beIN SPORTS
Will Marseille's Ligue 1 campaign fold against Lens?
Marseille have one basket and all their soccer eggs are in it. It's called the Europa League and it's the team's most realistic chance of playing in a European competition next season, an absolute must for a club of Marseille's size and history. The challenge is an daunting one: defeat Atalanta over two legs, then try and get through either the still-undefeated Bayer Leverkusen or Roma in the final. That would put Marseille back into the Champions League.
It's slim pickings in Ligue 1 for Marseille in terms of success. The team is currently five points off a place in the Europa Conference League, and that spot is currently taken by Lens, Sunday's opponents to the Velodrome. It's not as if Marseille have been in spectacular in Ligue 1 either with just two points picked up from the last 15 available.
A victory for Marseille gives the team a really faint chance of qualifying for Europe's third-tier tournament. A loss and everything rides on the club's Europa League challenge.