Ligue 1 Ends: PSG, Lens and Lille in Champions League, Nice Heads to Playoffs. The final round of Ligue 1 determined the European competition qualifiers and relegation fate. PSG, Lens, and Lille made it directly to the Champions League, while Nice will play relegation playoffs. The Nantes-Toulouse match was not completed due to an incident.
On the evening of May 17, the final round of the French Ligue 1 concluded, definitively assigning clubs to their final positions and determining participants for European competitions. The main surprise was the suspension of the Nantes-Toulouse match due to mass use of pyrotechnics and fans invading the pitch—the game had to be halted prematurely, adding tension to the relegation battle.
After 34 rounds, PSG, Lens, and Lille secured direct spots in the Champions League group stage. Lyon, finishing fourth, will fight for a place in the main round through qualification. Marseille, climbing to fifth, will go to the Europa League, while Rennes, in sixth, will play in the Conference League qualifiers. However, if Lens wins the French Cup final, Rennes will move to the Europa League, and Monaco, who finished seventh, could enter the Conference League qualifiers.
The intrigue at the bottom of the table remained until the final minutes. Nice failed to beat Metz (0:0) and finished the season in 16th place. The club will now play a two-leg playoff against Saint-Etienne for the right to stay in Ligue 1. These matches are scheduled for May 26 and 29, as on May 22 Lens and Nice will face each other in the French Cup final.
Le Havre and Auxerre, both at risk of relegation before the final round, managed to stay in the top flight thanks to wins over Lorient (2:0) and Lille (2:0) respectively. Monaco, despite battling to the end, remains outside of European competitions—unless Lens wins the French Cup, which would open up an extra spot.
The last match of the round between Strasbourg and Monaco ended with a high-scoring home win, 5:4. Thus, almost all questions about the season's outcome have been settled, except for the fate of the Nantes-Toulouse match, which was stopped due to crowd disturbances in the stands.
The fight for European spots and the relegation battle in Ligue 1 this season resembled recent events in Spanish football, when Valencia was on the verge of relegation and had to determine its fate in the final round — you can read more about this in the article on Valencia’s decisive match at Anoeta.
For reference: Ligue 1 is the top division of the French football championship, featuring 18 teams. At the end of the season, the top three teams qualify for the Champions League, while clubs finishing lower are allocated to other European competitions depending on national cup results. Playoff matches between Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 teams traditionally take place at the end of May to determine who stays in the top flight for the next season.
