Paris Saint-Germain continued to play out the string on Saturday against Angers. Having clinched the Ligue 1 title and after suffering a shock loss in the Coupe de France final, PSG’s final three matches are little more than glorified friendlies for the Parisian club.
So perhaps with that in mind we saw a new Neymar headband on display Saturday in PSG’s 2-1 sunny stroll past Angers.
PSG has endured quite the torpid spell in its last matches of the season. From bowing out of the Champions League to Manchester United, to losing the Coupe De France to Rennes on penalties, there hasn’t been much joy for Les Parisiens, spare eventually securing the Ligue 1 title.
The misery was compounded Tuesday as PSG traveled to Montpellier.
Neymar has officially recovered from his now annual foot injury. The Brazilian started for the first time since January 23 and appears to be in full form already, supplying a first-half assist and goal for PSG against Stade Rennes in the Coupe de France final on Saturday in Paris.
Stephanie Frappart will become the first female Ligue 1 referee during Sunday’s match between Amiens and Strasbourg.
After two consecutive defeats turned the narrative surrounding PSG into the sort of existential crisis that could only be penned by compatriot Jean-Paul Sartre, Kylian Mbappé’s 55-minute hat trick — taking him to 30 goals on the year and just three behind Lionel Messi in the race for the European Golden Shoe — propelled the club to a sixth Ligue 1 title in seven seasons.
Following Lille’s 1-1 draw with Reims on Sunday, PSG had a chance to clinch the Ligue 1 title with seven matches remaining by defeating eighth place Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes.
With the title just a matter of time, Thomas Tuchel elected to hand starts to the likes of Colin Dagba, Leandro Paredes, Layvin Kurzawa and a forward line spearheaded by Christopher Nkunku and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
We all still know, as evidenced by his hat-trick against Atletico Madrid, that when it comes to big matches, there’s no player more decisive on the planet than Cristiano Ronaldo. However, given his current injury and focus on the Champions League, it’s safe to say that Ronaldo will not capture the European Golden Shoe this year.
This story is only going to dominate the entire summer transfer window from start to finish, so we might as well keep abreast of it now. We know that Real Madrid has its eyes on both Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, but which PSG star will ultimately makes his way to the Santiago Bernabéu?
The latest reports say that it won’t be Neymar.
Presently, it looks like Real will turn to Chelsea’s Eden Hazard — who only has one-year remaining on his current contract at Stamford Bridge, so the club might have to sell this summer — to remedy the left-hand side of the attack.
It’s a bit strange, but for the likes of Real Madrid, PSG, Atlético and Napoli, there’s not much to play for with two months remaining in the season. Maybe a Coupe de France here and a triggering of an Arsenal crisis there, but it’s really silly season time for the aforementioned giants of the European game.
We’ve just hit March and while MLS has just started stateside, European football leagues will begin to wind down by early May. Naturally the European game will soon be dealing with promotion and relegation to and from the top leagues.
Most of these leagues have roughly 10 games to go and every game can be do or die for clubs making the leap up and clubs who are fighting to survive. Here are the teams most likely to be relegated from the highest tier and promoted from the second tiers of Europe.