the stakes of the matches of the French clubs of Thursday

After Lille’s victory on Tuesday against Salzburg (1-0) and the defeat of Paris Saint-Germain on the pitch of Manchester City (1-2), place for the French clubs C3 and C4, Thursday, November 25. In the Europa League and Europa League Conference, only Olympique Lyonnais is guaranteed to play the next round. Olympique de Marseille, AS Monaco and Stade Rennais must win today to consider continuing their European adventure.

Marseille to finally win and get closer to qualifying

A trip to Istanbul to temporarily put aside the frustrations. Since the start of the Europa League in mid-September, Olympique de Marseille has still not won with four draws conceded in four games. Three of them were very frustrating for the Marseillais, who gave the feeling of being superior to their opponents. Among them, the first leg against Galatasaray on September 30 (0-0).

With these four points taken in four games, OM occupies third place in Group E before this 5th day. And it is therefore on the lawn of Galatasaray, first in the pool, that the Phocaeans will try to win their first victory this season in the European Cup, to get closer to qualifying. In the event of victory tonight in Turkey and a draw or defeat for Lazio at the same time in Moscow, Marseille would offer themselves a final to play on the last day against Lokomotiv Moscow, the worst team in the group, at the Velodrome stadium.

Monaco to validate its first place and not play again until March

For its part, AS Monaco is carrying out a European boss campaign. Two victories by a goal gap, including a strong success on the lawn of PSV Eindhoven during the third day (2-1), and two draws allow the Monegasque club to occupy the head of group B. Facing the Real Sociedad, at the Louis-II stadium, AS Monaco can secure first place in the group if successful. “Our ambition will be to attack, score goals and win this match“, assured Niko Kovac, the trainer of the ASM in a press conference Wednesday.

During the first leg, Monaco had gone to seek a draw (1-1) with forceps which suited them well. This time, the Monegasque team will have to win against a formidable team, 2nd in Liga, to approach the 6th day with the status of assured leader. A place that makes the difference in this Europa League: the first in each group skip the round of 16 and are directly qualified for the round of 16. An advantage that allows these teams to avoid a double confrontation to be played in February and not to replay in C3 until March.

Lyon to regain momentum

This advantage, Olympique Lyonnais knows he can count on it since his victory against Sparta Prague on the 4th day (3-0). OL are guaranteed to finish first in group A and to play directly in the round of 16 of the competition. The match that the Lyonnais will play at Bröndby does not seem to be of much interest. But in reality, this meeting has something to revive the players of Peter Bosz. Some of them have not played for more than two and a half weeks, between the international break and the premature end of the match against OM on Sunday.

This match will therefore be an opportunity to find some rhythm and “see players who have played little so far and who deserve a chance“, explained the Dutch coach of OL at a press conference on Wednesday. If they win, OL could also aim for a perfect group campaign, with six wins in six matches, before the last day at home against Les Glasgow Rangers This would be a first for OL.

Rennes to play a final in London

Stade Rennais will not achieve a perfect group campaign, but everything is currently rolling for the Breton club. 3rd in Ligue 1, Rennes welcomes Vitesse Arnhem to Roazhon Park and only needs a small point to qualify for the rest of the Europa Conference Conference. But Bruno Génésio wants to avoid overconfidence. “VSWhat is important is to keep this level and to be able to reproduce it as often as possible“, warned the Rennes coach at a press conference on Wednesday.

If they only need one point to qualify, the Rennais are aiming for a victory to consolidate their first place and approach with a little more confidence the last match of this group G to play on the lawn of Tottenham on the 9th. next december. If successful Thursday evening, the Génésio players could even validate their first place and qualify directly for the knockout stages of the competition, if Tottenham does not win at the same time against Mura. Rennes are therefore hoping for a misstep from Spurs.