Who Will Finish as Best of the Rest in Ligue 1?

With just the top two in Ligue 1 gaining the automatic Champions League spots, the race is on to see who will finish as runners-up behind champions-elect PSG. Here are the contenders in the battle to be the best of the rest in Ligue 1.

Currently in second place is Marseille, looking to finish in the top two again like they did the season before last. Jorge Sampaoli’s side are three points above third-placed Rennes, with eight games left in the season, and are on a run of five wins in a row in all competitions.

Arsenal loanees Matteo Guendouzi and William Saliba are key players for the French side, with former Gunners’ left-back Sead Kolasinac joining the club in January. The key man for Marseille though is ex-West Ham midfielder Dimitri Payet – with ten goals and nine assists in his 26 Ligue 1 games so far this season.

Marseille will do very well to keep their three-point cushion in the top two, with tricky fixtures coming up. Sampaoli’s men have to play PSG away later this month as well as games against Lyon, Rennes and Strasbourg still to come.

Ligue 1’s third-placed side also have a tough run-in as they go about closing that gap to second. Rennes have the likes of Lille, Monaco and Strasbourg to play as well as the tie against Marseille coming soon.

Unlike Marseille, Rennes don’t have any European fixtures to compete in, after falling to that narrow aggregate defeat to Leicester City in their UEFA Conference League Round of 16 tie.

Rennes have some talented players in their ranks, such as Martin Terrier who has fired in 17 goals in Ligue 1 this season, with only Monaco’s Wissam Ben Yedder scoring more goals than him in France’s top tier this season. Another Rennes attacker Gaetan Laborde is also near the top of that list with 14 goals following his £13.5million move from Montpellier.

Perhaps one of the surprise contenders to be up there fighting for a Champions League spot is Strasbourg, who will be looking to book a place at Europe’s top table for the first time since they won the French first division back in 1979.

After spending some time across the past decade yo-yo-ing between Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, the Blue and Whites have been in the top tier since winning the second division in 2017 and now are now establishing themselves as a top-half Ligue 1 side.

Like the rest of these teams, there are still plenty of games that could see Strasbourg to slip as they try to overcome the five-point deficit to second. Fixtures against the like of PSG, Lille, Marseille, Lyon and Rennes await.

Nice currently find themselves in fifth spot, but still just five points off second place.

Christophe Galtier’s side have arguably the easiest run-in though, with six of their eight remaining league games seeing them come up against sides in the bottom half of the table.

Nice have some talented players at their disposal, with the likes Andy Delort, Kasper Dolberg and promising 22-year-old forward Amine Gouiri providing options up-front. Veteran defender Dante provides experience at the back next to former Barcelona centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo, as well as former Southampton pair Morgan Schneiderlin and Mario Lemina in midfield.