TOPS
The party will be great in Finistère. Living up to the incredible feat accomplished by the SB29, which defied all predictions by finishing in third place in the ranking after its victory in Toulouse on Sunday evening (0-3). Never seen before in its history. Éric Roy’s men validated their oh-so-unexpected qualification for the Champions League, at the end of a particularly thrilling final. In Toulouse this Sunday, the Brestois waited until the second half to realize their superiority. The goals from Camara, Amavi and Lala, combined with the draw conceded by Lille, turned the Brest evening into absolute happiness. And reward an extraordinary season. A real surprise guest on the podium, Brest will accompany PSG and Monaco in C1 next season.
OL have been through all the stages this season. But as they say: “It’s at the end of the ball that you pay the musicians.” And the final result is qualification for the Europa League, even though the Lyonnais were stuck in last place until the 14th day. The character of this team was revealed with the arrival of Pierre Sage, a character which allowed Les Gones to snatch a precious last victory against Strasbourg in stoppage time thanks to Alexandre Lacazette’s penalty, author of a double .
Lorient can be proud. However, the Merlus will play next season in Ligue 2, the fault of a small goal. Winners of Clermont 5-0, the Bretons only needed one more goal to snatch the dam and claim to remain in Ligue 1. Or one more goal from the Parisians who beat Metz 2-0. Unfortunately for the people of Lorient, sadness and disappointment are in order, but the character and desire displayed this evening can still bring out a great feeling of pride. Lorient was on the verge of achieving a major feat.
FLOPS
This is one of the big disappointments of this last day. Third in the standings at kick-off, Lille had all the cards in hand to secure their place on the podium. Especially since Nice, their opponent for the evening, had nothing left to play. But if the supporters responded, ensuring a great atmosphere in the Pierre-Mauroy bays, the Mastiffs missed out. Unrecognizable and long paralyzed by the enormous stakes of this meeting, which they were slow to master. Lotomba’s Nice equalizer at the very end of the match sanctioned the poor performance of Losc, who will have to go through the play-offs to hope to play in the final phase of the Champions League next season. Which changes everything in view of the offseason.
Lens was scuttled during the 38th day of Ligue 1 by conceding a draw against Montpellier at Bollaert (2-2). Leading at the break (2-0), Florian Sotoca’s teammates, who admitted “not understanding” how his team got there, missed their goal. Lens, who attacked the game with beating drums, stumbled in the second half and will have to settle for the Europa Conference League next season while the Europa League held out its arms to them.
Assured of its survival last weekend, Nantes concluded its painful season with a heavy setback suffered at Monaco (4-0). The FCN, without Mohamed, sank from the first moments, like Nicolas Pallois suffering behind. Passed by Ben Yedder on the opening score, the Nantes colossus then caused a penalty, committing a gross foul on Ben Seghir. The last straw for Antoine Kombouaré, who did not hesitate to replace him before the half-hour mark. The season ended prematurely for the 36-year-old, who is nevertheless preparing to return for another season among the Canaries.