Brest in the Champions League, Lyon and Lens in Europe, Lorient relegated… The lessons of the last day

At the end of an evening full of twists and turns at all levels of the ranking, Ligue 1 2023-2024 delivered its verdict with a big winner: Stade Brestois, third and directly qualified for the Champions League.

Ligue 1 2023-2024 bowed out on Sunday, May 19, with the multiplex of the 34th and final day of the season. With PSG already crowned champion of France, Monegasques assured of finishing runners-up and Clermont Foot conversely already condemned to Ligue 2, there remained several unknowns to be resolved at all levels of the championship.

From the race for the Champions League between Brest and Lille to the jump-off between Metz and Lorient, passing through the numerous contenders (Lens, Lyon, Marseille) for the last European place: this ultra-spectacular 34th day held in suspense until the very last seconds of this season.

Champions League: Brest qualified, Lille in preliminary round

Knocked off the podium on the 33rd day by Losc for the first time this season, Stade Brestois turned things around to regain their third place on the gong. Tied on points with Losc at kick-off, Brest started with an unfavorable goal difference. But on the pitch in Toulouse, the Pirates finished the season with a bang (3-0). Three points which were only enough for the Bretons in the event of a poor performance by Lille against Nice, already assured of a fifth qualifying place for the Europa League.

Trailing for a long time, Losc turned things around in the second half with Haraldsson and André, and thought they would hold on to their third place. But Lotomba’s equalizer in added time (2-2, 90th+3) sealed the northerners’ hopes. It is indeed Brest which finishes third and qualifies directly for the C1, alongside PSG and AS Monaco. Fourth, Losc will have to go through the third preliminary round then through a play-off to join the Champions League. In the event of defeat, the Mastiffs will be transferred to the Europa League.

Europe: European Lyon and Lens, OM banned

After its defeat in Reims on Wednesday, an alignment of planets was needed for OM to qualify for a European Cup next season. The first condition was to see Marseille win on the Le Havre pitch. A condition painfully fulfilled by the Marseillais, 2-1 winners at the Océane stadium. Except that at the same time, neither Lens nor Lyon lost, thus sounding the death knell for the European hopes of OM, eighth.

Sixth at kick-off, the Lensois controlled their destiny for a long time, leading 2-0 until the hour mark. This was before the Montpellier surge, which led to a draw (2-2) which made the affairs… of Olympique Lyonnais. Because the Gones, thanks to a penalty from Alexandre Lacazette in the 90+6th minute, won against Strasbourg (2-1). Enough to grab this sixth qualifying place for the Europa Conference League, but which sends them to the Europa League thanks to… their place in the Coupe de France final.

Indeed, in the event of a victory against PSG on Saturday May 25, the Lyonnais will qualify for C3 via the Coupe de France. While in the event of defeat against the Parisians, they will be thanks to their sixth place in Ligue 1, which would become a qualifier for the C3, since PSG is already qualified for the Champions League. A game of musical chairs which also delights the people of Lens, therefore. Seventh, the Artésiens are thus assured of competing in the next Europa Conference League.

Maintenance: Lorient relegated, Metz can still hope

Condemned to Ligue 2, Clermont Foot could still avoid last place. To do this, the Auvergnats had to win on the pitch of their direct opponent in this fight: Lorient. However, the Merlus cherished the hope of overtaking FC Metz to seize the play-off place, and thus still hope to remain in Ligue 1. For this, Lorient had to win while hoping for a defeat for Metz against PSG, while making up for a negative goal difference (-7).

Overmotivated by this tiny hope, and by the two goals quickly conceded by Metz against PSG, the Merlus surged against the Auvergne defense and took everything in their path. At the hour mark, Lorient led 3-0 against a completely overwhelmed Clermontois. There then remained a gap of three goals to make up for the Morbihanais, since in the event of a perfect tie, Metz remained ahead in direct confrontations. A perfect tie finally achieved, since Lorient slapped Clermont (5-0) and maintained hope until the end of the night. In vain. It is FC Metz which finishes sixteenth and which will play its place in Ligue 1 against Rodez, Paris FC or AS Saint-Etienne