Prodigy Kylian Mbappé racked up his 50th Ligue 1 Conforama goal in record time as Paris Saint-Germain beat Nîmes 3-1 to go 17 points

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1 NEWSLETTER LIGUE 1 CONFORAMA Week 26 review: Another record for Mbappé, Monaco stun Lyon Prodigy Kylian Mbappé racked up his 50th Ligue 1 Conforama goal in record time as Paris Saint-Germain beat Nîmes 3-1 to go 17 points clear; AS Monaco continued their revival by toppling OL to move five points clear of the drop. Plenty of players have scored 50 Ligue 1 Conforama goals in their careers, but none have done so as quickly as 20-year-old Paris Saint-Germain prodigy Kylian Mbappé, who hit the half-century mark just his 88th appearance in France's top flight. In the injury absences of Neymar and Edinson Cavani, the the Ligue 1 Conforama top scorer (22 goals) has shouldered the goal-scoring responsibilities in Thomas Tuchel's side, and he once again obliged with a double in the 3-0 win over Nîmes that took the capital club 17 points clear (with match in hand) on Saturday. "Everything that Mbappé does, it's dangerous, it makes a difference," said circumspect Nimes boss Bernard Blaquart, whose side slip to 11th. "He created a lot of chances and scored from two of them. He's always on the boil. It's impressive. He's so quick. He's a phenomenon of French football, and it's going to last a while." Meanwhile PSG boss Thomas Tuchel - who will likely still be without Neymar and Cavani for the UEFA Champions League last 16 return leg clash at home to Manchester United looming on 6 March - was very happy with the win. "We could have won by more. Kylian could have scored five goals! It was a great win. The team got stronger and stronger as the game wore on," he said before turning his attention to their mid-week Coupe de France quarter-final."now we want to beat Dijon in the Coupe de France. We haven't forgotten our elimination in the Coupe de la Ligue against Guingamp. We need to stay calm, stay professional and be ready for Tuesday. It's a very important match for us." It has been an up-and-down season for Monaco - to say the least - but on Sunday night the principality club put the emphasis on the upswing as they claimed just a third home win of the season. That they did so against high-flying Lyon, 2-0, was a testament to how much the side has changed since the winter transfer window - with the notable arrival of livewire Portuguese forward Gelson Martins - and the return of coach Leonardo Jardim. "It was very important to win as we need all the points we can get. Against a top-quality side, who have shown their quality this season against the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, we had a great attitude but also played some great football," said Jardim, who has guided Monaco to an unbeaten run in February (three wins) that has taken them five points clear of the drop. "When I signed with the club, the plan was to play on a par with the best teams in France for the remaining 16 matches of the season. We've done it over four matches so far, but we need to continue." OL boss Bruno Genesio, meanwhile, who saw substitute Memphis Depay miss from the penalty spot, knows his side need to do better if they are to hang onto third. "We completely blew it in the first half. All of us! And me the most of all. Was this a hangover from the Barcelona match [0-0 in the UEFA Champions League last 16 on Tuesday]? I don't know," he admitted. "But if we want to be competitive in the race for a top-three finish, and in particular second place, we need to show a lot more spirit. We didn't see the real Lyon tonight." Happily for OL, second-placed LOSC only went a single point further ahead after an Anthony Gonçalves strike cancelled out Jonathan Ikone's fine strike in the 1-1 draw in Strasbourg on Friday night. However, Sainté's 1-0 win in Dijon will have rung some alarm bells in Lyon, Serbian defender Neven Subotic's lone strike taking Les Verts fourth - within three points of their bitter Rhône derby rivals. 03/01/2019 Ligue de Football Professionnel / Ligue1.com 1

2 Fresh from a stunning 6-4 aggregate win over Real Betis to qualify for the UEFA Europa League last 16, Rennes clinched a 1-1 draw at home to a resurgent Marseille - despite being without star playmaker Hatem Ben Arfa, left out of the side after missing a pre-match team meeting. The draw leaves OM in fifth, locked on 41 points with Stade de Reims, who capped their own strong recent run of form with a thrilling 4-2 win over Montpellier. Soundly beaten 5-1 by Paris in mid-week, Michel Der Zakarian's side opened the scoring, but the Champagne club ran away with it in the second half, Rémi Oudin notably nabbing his second Ligue 1 Conforama double. Bottom club EA Guingamp struck a blow in their bid to beat the drop, Lucas Deaux's last- gasp goal handing Jocelyn Gourvennec's side just a fourth win of the campaign over Angers - and taking them within two points of a play-off berth in a log-jammed bottom end of the table. This result put Amiens on notice, but luckily the 17th-placed side also clocked a rare win, former Laval and LOSC forward Sehrou Guirassy bagging his first Ligue 1 Conforama goal to dispatch Patrick Vieira's OGC Nice 1-0. Toulouse and Caen locked horns but came out honours even - thanks to a superb leveller from TFC's free-kick maestro Max-Alain Gradel - while stopper Nicolas Pallois clinched victory for Nantes against former club Bordeaux, volleying home powerfully at the far post to get Les Canaris back to winning ways after their Week 25 defeat to Monaco. Week 26 reactions - Jardim: 'We need to continue' AS Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim hailed his side's quality after they clinched a shock 2-0 win over Lyon, whose coach Bruno Genesio was looking for more spirit from his side as they aim to clinch a second-placed finish. Sunday, February 24, 2019 AS Monaco 2-0 Olympique Lyonnais Leonardo Jardim (AS Monaco coach): "It was very important to win as we need all the points we can get. Against a top-quality side, who have shown their quality this season against the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, we had a great attitude but also played some great football. We piled the pressure on them and it worked. We had a few chances and so did Lyon, but in the end, the 2-0 scoreline is a fair reflection of the match. When I signed with the club, the plan was to play on a par with the best teams in France for the remaining 16 matches of the season. We've done it over four matches so far, but we need to continue." Bruno Genesio (Olympique Lyonnais coach): "We completely blew it in the first half. All of us! And me the most of all. Was this a hangover from the Barcelona match [0-0 in the UEFA Champions League last 16 on Tuesday]? I don't know. We had five days between the matches. We simply weren't aggressive or enterprising enough. I told my team that this Monaco side had completely changed in the winter transfer window. [On Memphis Depay's penalty miss] We'll never know if it would have changed the match. We could have hoped for a point. But if we want to be competitive in the race for a top-three finish, and in particular second place, we need to show a lot more spirit. We didn't see the real Lyon tonight." Montpellier Hérault SC 2-4 Stade de Reims Michel Der Zakarian (Montpellier coach): "We started the match well but were not clinical enough - it could have been 2-0 or 3-0 after quarter of an hour. Reims were more clinical than us on the counter-attack. They had four chances and scored four goals. Conceding nine goals in a week is a sign that we have not been good." David Guion (Reims coach): "It is a deserved victory. The team grew into the game after Montpellier started the better team. We were always a danger, and after rectifying two or three things at the break we controlled the second half. We are capable of scoring goals away from home. We have achieved the club's primary objective of avoiding the drop. I am very proud." FC Nantes 1-0 Girondins de Bordeaux 03/01/2019 Ligue de Football Professionnel / Ligue1.com 2

3 Vahid Halilhodzic (Nantes coach): "It had felt like a century since we last won a game, so this feels good. It was a deserved victory. We could have scored a few more goals to take proper revenge for my first match with Nantes (a 3-0 defeat in Bordeaux). The most important thing is that we won, but I am a bit worried by our inability to take our chances." Éric Bedouet (Bordeaux coach): "We feel incapable of turning things around at the moment - we reacted but it was not enough to win the game. We made a big mistake at the goal. If we are not able to score goals away from home, we need to at least make sure we don't concede. We knew they were dangerous at set-pieces, but we made a mistake and paid for it." Toulouse FC 1-1 SM Caen Alain Casanova (Toulouse coach): "Once again we found ourselves behind and it is very hard for the players because we could have been 2-0 up at half-time without argument. They had chances to finish it, but we stayed in the match until the free-kick where Max saved us again. It could have been worse, but there is a lot of frustration for us at the end of the game." Fabien Mercadal (Caen coach): "We were almost there. We missed chances to finish it off and that is a shame because we could have been 2-0 up and the points would have been in the bag. There were nevertheless lots of positives to take forward. This point takes us out of the bottom two. The players were disappointed but they don't see it as a defeat. A point keeps us moving forward. The boys are getting their confidence back bit by bit." Stade Rennais FC 1-1 Olympique de Marseille Julien Stéphan (Rennes coach): "I thought my players put in a great performance. Just 72 hours after the match against Betis, to be capable of playing with that intensity, and to be able to start the way we did, is extremely positive. The regret is the goal we conceded from a set-piece because they did not create much else in the second half and we had chances to win the game." Rudi Garcia (Marseille coach): "I don't think we deserved to lose or win and Rennes were the same, each side had a half where they were on top. The draw is the right result. Our problem was that we only played in the second half." Saturday, February 23, 2019 Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 Nîmes Olympique Thomas Tuchel (Paris Saint-Germain coach): "We had a lot of chances to score throughout the game. We could have won by more. Kylian could have scored five goals! Perhaps we lacked a little concentration, but I think we played really well and defended high up the pitch. The second half was exceptional. It was a great win. The team got stronger and stronger as the game wore on. Now we want to beat Dijon in the Coupe de France. We haven?t forgotten our elimination in the Coupe de la Ligue against Guingamp. We need to stay calm, stay professional and be ready for Tuesday. It?s a very important match for us." Bernard Blaquart (Nîmes coach): "Everything that Mbappé does, it's dangerous, it makes a difference. He creates a lot of chances and he has scored two of them. He's always on the boil. It's impressive. He's so quick?he's a phenomenon of French football, and it's going to last a while." Amiens SC 1-0 OGC Nice Christophe Pelissier (Amiens coach): "We had a very good first half. The players applied our plan to the letter. We put Nice under a lot of pressure as we wanted to stop them playing. In the second half, Nice pushed to try and equlise, and we were a little bit afraid of winning, so we sat back. There was a lot of quality in the first half and a lot of unity and self-sacrifice in the second. We know we'll have to fight to stay up right until the final game of the season. More than the win, I didn't feel that the players were inhibited by the pressure." Patrick Vieira (Nice coach): "The second half, where we were a lot more agressive, where we made better choices and where we were better in possession. In the first, we lacked agression, we were under pressure, particularly in the first twenty minutes. That?s where you can see that lack of experience: we were in trouble and we didn?t know how to react. What we are missing was the use of the ball in the first half. We lacked a bit of courage and personality when we were coming out from the back in order to create a numerical advantage through the middle, something that we 03/01/2019 Ligue de Football Professionnel / Ligue1.com 3

4 were able to do afterwards. We need to continue to work. We can always do better. The team is young and will learn from this match." EA Guingamp 1-0 Angers SCO Jocelyn Gourvennec (Guingamp coach): "When the game ends like that, with a goal in added time, in a tough match, it does a lot of good to us all. There have not been a lot of positive outcomes at the Roudourou this season. It's good to have that at this time of the season, an important time, with a full stadium. We knew it was going to be a diffcult match against a compact side that defends very well, and that catches teams out like that. You have to make them run, which we did better in the second half than in the first. We did it like that, with a touch of good luck that we haven't had in a while." Stéphane Moulin (Angers coach): "It's cruel, because overall, I think that we controlled our opponents well. We didn't play all that well technically. But tactically, in the way we defended, we at least matched them. I'm disappointed with the result of course, but also, I'm not happy with the way we conceded the goal. It was totally avoidable. Once again we didn't close down the man crossing the ball. I have told them several times to do that. It's one of the rare times in the game when we defended badly, and we paid for it." Friday, February 22, 2019 Dijon FCO 0-1 AS Saint-Etienne Antoine Kombouaré (Dijon coach): "I am angry after the goal we conceded. At a corner, a central defender who scores with a volley, it's not normal, it's unacceptable. It really makes me angry, and it has cost us at least a point. Mentally it is difficult at the moment. Defeats lead to doubts. We didn't do enough going forward, and we made a defensive mistake which cost us dear. We had players out, and it was an experimental defence, but we need to do more. Our second-half performance was a bit better, but it was not enough." Jean-Louis Gasset (Saint-Etienne coach): "It is not yet the moment to talk about the race for Europe. There are still 12 matches to go. If we continue playing football well, and picking up points, we will see where we are with four or five games to go. It is good to win at Dijon with a weakened team. We could maybe have put the game to bed sooner, because we were on top very quickly. We were better in the second half. My team showed real defensive solidity. It augurs well for what is coming up, notably our matches at Marseille and against Lille." RC Strasbourg Alsace 1-1 LOSC Lille Thierry Laurey (Strasbourg coach): "Overall I am satisfied because we were in difficulty in the first half. We are pleased at having put things right in the second half. At the end we caused Lille problems, but the draw seems like the right result to me. We knew they would start really strongly and we didn't want to expose ourselves. We wanted to let the storm pass because we know they are a dynamic side but who have less gas in the second half of games. We lost the ball less after the break and came back into it. We finished well and I am not worried. We are not going to win every match, so we are happy with the point here." Christophe Galtier (Lille coach): "The players feel like they have dropped two points. But our inability to get a second goal left us exposed. To come away from here with a draw is not a bad performance at all. The regret is that we did not score the second goal despite having several chances, because we were good - very good even - for 60 minutes. We had a first half of real quality, where we were on top. We were still creating chances in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but then the game changed, especially after Lebo Mothiba came on. We started to sit back and did not bring the ball out so well. They tried to push us back and they succeeded in the final 25 minutes." 03/01/2019 Ligue de Football Professionnel / Ligue1.com 4

5 Nîmes-Rennes postponed to prepare for Arsenal Stade Rennais FC's trip to Nîmes Olympique on Saturday has been postponed, with the LFP seeking to support the club's bid to get past Arsenal in the UEFA Europa League last 16 next week. Rennes have impressed on their first European campaign since , qualifying alongside Dynamo Kiev from Group K before beating Real Betis in their maiden continental knock out tie, securing a 6-4 aggregate win over the Spaniards last Thursday. Arsenal - and former Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery - stand between the Bretons and a quarter-final berth, and the Ligue de Football Professionnel have handed Julien Stéphan's men a welcome eight-day break. "To allow Stade Rennais to prepare in the best possible way for the two-leg, last 16 Europa League tie with Arsenal, the LFP have accepted the club's request to reschedule the Nîmes-Rennes match," read an official statement. Rennes are in action against Domino's Ligue 2 US Orléans in the Coupe de France quarter-finals on Wednesday, against whom Hatem Ben Arfa is expected to return after missing last Sunday's 1-1 draw with Olympique de Marseille due to exhaustion. Toulouse-Guingamp fixture rescheduled Toulouse FC's match at home to EA Guingamp in Week 28 has been moved from Saturday, 9 March to Sunday, 10. Guingamp had originally been scheduled to take on the south coast club on Saturday, 9 March at 20:00 CET, but on instruction from officials of the Haute-Garonne region, the game will now be played on Sunday, 10, at 15:00 CET. Toulouse are ten points better off than bottom club Guingamp, whom they beat 2-1 in their last meeting, in September. MONTPELLIER HSC-ANGERS SCO rescheduled The Ligue 1 Conforama Week 28 fixture has been pushed back a day. Under instruction from the Prefecture of Hérault, the LFP has rescheduled the match, initially set to be played at 20:00 CET on Saturday, 9 March, for 15:00 CET on Sunday 10 March.? 03/01/2019 Ligue de Football Professionnel / Ligue1.com 5

6 COUPE DE FRANCE Di Maria powers PSG through to semis Paris Saint-Germain are through to the Coupe de France semi-finals for the fifth season in a row, two goals from Angel Di Maria and one from Thomas Meunier handing the four-time champs a 3-0 victory at home to Dijon on Tuesday. Tuesday, 26 February 2019 Coupe de France, quarter-finals Parc des Princes, Paris Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 Dijon FCO THE MATCH? Under the direction of former Paris Saint-Germain player and coach Antoine Kombouaré, a valiant Dijon side made a first of their trip to the capital, but were calmly outplayed by a Paris Saint-Germain side without Neymar, Edinson Cavani (both injured) or Kylian Mbappé (rested). Paris made the job easy for themselves by getting off to a great start, Julian Draxler pulling the strings in coach Thomas Tuchel's formation and releasing Angel Di Maria on the break. The Argentine's first touch was sublime and the second simply ridiculous, lobbing the ball over a helpless Runar Alex Runarsson for an early opener (8'). Although Romain Amalfitano managed to threaten in the air, Paris were soon two goals to the good - once again thanks to Di Maria, who was once again played in by Draxler. The Argentine looked to find Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting, but when the pass came back off Wesley Lautoa, he was ready to pounce and deftly slotted an angled effort between the stranded Runarsson and his near post (28'). Dijon weren't done, however, and went close through Senou Coulibaly's near-free header - just after Dijon's all-time top scorer Julio Tavares had latched into Naim Sliti's pass into the area and seen his bizarre ultra-angled curler fizz twang off the far post (32'). PSG looked to hit back through Choupo-Moting and Di Maria and, after break, Paredes from a free-kick as the home side continued to dominate, but it wasn't until the final 15 minutes that they definitively stitched up the win. With Draxler once again involved, Choupo-Moting worked a one-two with Thomas Meunier on the right and the fit-again Belgium international made no mistake from the cut-back, lashing a crisp shot home from just inside the area (76'). To Dijon's credit, they never stopped trying to claw their way back, and Runarsson made a solid save one-on-one from PSG sub Christopher Nkunku, but Kombouaré's men couldn't find a solution to a home side full of confidence. Dijon can now fully focus on their main mission: climbing out of the Ligue 1 Conforama drop zone, starting with Saturday's trip to high-flying Lille - where a win would see Paris Saint-Germain stretch their lead to 20 points should they beat Dijon's relegation rivals SM Caen, also on Saturday. THE PLAYER: Angel Di Maria? Although Germany international Draxler had a superb turn as playmaker in Tuchel's 3-4-3, Di Maria's performance stood out thanks to two superbly taken goals. Lined up on the right-hand side of the front three, the Argentine moved all over the pitch and wreaked havoc wherever he went, notably terrorising Fouad Chafik and Coulibaly with his touch, movement and pace. More importantly, he also flummoxed Runarsson in the Dijon goal, first with a sublime chip and then a slick piece of anticipation and clinical finishing. The stunning performance underlined Di Maria's quality - and importance in Tuchel's squad. THE STAT: 28? 03/01/2019 Ligue de Football Professionnel / Ligue1.com 6

7 Four-time champs Paris Saint-Germain haven't lost a Coupe de France tie since they fell 2-1 to Montpellier in the round of 32 back in late January That's over five years! In that time, the competition's most successful club (12 titles in total) have won 28 consecutive Coupe de France ties, prevailing in finals against AJ Auxerre (1-0 in 2015), arch-rivals Marseille (4-2 in 2016), Angers SCO (1-0 in 2017) and amateurs Vendée Les Herbiers (2-0 in 2018). Lyon join Rennes in Coupe de France semi-finals A heavily rotated Lyon proved too good for Ligue 1 Conforama rivals SM Caen, with Jason Denayer (26'), Maxwel Cornet (49') and Memphis Depay (83') scoring in a 3-1 win at the Groupama Stadium. Wednesday, 27 February 2019 Coupe de France, quarter-finals Groupama Stadium, Lyon Olympique Lyonnais 3-1 SM Caen With club captain Nabil Fekir rested, Brazilian left-back Marçal suspended and fellow defender Jérémy Morel injured, Les Gones handed rare starts to Cornet, Pape Diop and Kenny Tete, but they always looked comfortable in front of their home fans, with Denayer heading home the opener following a pinpoint cross from Memphis (26'). Cornet flashed a warning shot wide after racing onto a Diop through-ball on the stroke of half-time (45') before making good on his threat minutes after the restart, sweeping the ball past Erwin Zelazny from close range (49'). Caen held Lyon to a 2-2 draw when the sides met in Ligue 1 Conforama in September, but there was to be no repeat here, despite coach Fabien Mercadel sending on attacking reinforcements Casimir Ninga (53') and Malik Tchokounté (65') for the run in. The former pulled one back (77') but it proved too little too late Caen defender Alexander Djiku was given his marching orders after bringing Memphis down in the box (81'), and the Dutchman dusted himself down to convert the spot-kick (83') and complete the scoring at 3-1. Roazhon Park, Rennes Stade Rennais FC 2-0 US Orléans Rennes welcomed back Hatem Ben Arfa, who had missed Sunday's 1-1 draw with Olympique de Marseille due to exhaustion, but the former France international and Co. were made to wait by the side currently eighth in Domino's Ligue 2. Damien Da Silva had an effort ruled out for handball early on (26') before Ben Arfa saw a penalty claim ruled out by VAR (41'), but the Bretons finally broke the deadlock with Benjamin Bourigeaud finding the top corner with a curling free-kick (65'). M'Baye Niang then completed the scoring after a smart through-ball from Ben Arfa (71'). Rennes join Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain - who beat Dijon FCO 3-0 on Tuesday - in the semi-finals, with AS Vitré and FC Nantes still to play on 6 March. 03/01/2019 Ligue de Football Professionnel / Ligue1.com 7

8 Quarter-final reactions - Genesio: 'A very serious performance' Coach Bruno Genesio hailed Memphis Depay after OL bounced back from defeat to book a semis berth 3-1 over SM Caen; Rennes boss Julien Stéphan felt the 2-0 win over US Orléans was due to a much-improved second half. Wednesday, 27 February 2019 Coupe de France, quarter-finals Groupama Stadium, Lyon Olympique Lyonnais 3-1 SM Caen Bruno Genesio (Olympique Lyonnais coach): "The players turned in a very serious performance. That was enough to qualify us and that was the most important thing. Congratulations to the lads. We played the match we expected to play and we showed that we can bounce back, as a team [after the 2-0 league defeat to Monaco on Sunday]. I'm happy that Memphis [Depay] scored. He was very active, as was the rest of the team, and he was focused and committed - on top of scoring and setting one up." Fabien Mercadal (SM Caen coach): "We wanted to respect the Coupe de France. We had the first chances, even though we were on the back foot. We could have caused Lyon to doubt themselves had we been able to open the scoring. But it was a bridge too far for us tonight - and we lost one of our best players [Alexander Djiku, sent off in the 82nd minute]. That's the kind of thing we're dealing with on daily basis." Roazhon Park, Rennes Stade Rennais FC 2-0 US Orléans Julien Stéphan (Stade Rennais FC coach): "Our first half was less than perfect but we managed to create chances. Still, in terms of rhythm and intensity, it wasn't enough. It could be that we've played a lot of matches recently, or simply that our last two have taken a lot of energy out of us. But our second half was really promising and I knew we would open the scoring sooner or later. The fact that our league match on Saturday was postponed [to allow Rennes to prepare for their UEFA Europa League last 16 clash with Arsenal] changed my team selection, but we had plenty of respect for this team as we know they can be dangerous." Didier Ollé-Nicolle (US Orléans coach): "I have no regrets even though I am disappointed not to have qualified. When you prepare for a match that could get you to a semi-final - even if it's away to a Ligue 1 club, you're hoping to qualify. Rennes are an excellent team, we knew that. They took us seriously and fielded their best team. The fact that the LFP postponed their league match against Nîmes made things easier for them, but that's part of the game. We managed to mix it in collective and athletic terms, but technically we only lasted about 20 minutes before the Rennes machine got rolling, and you could clearly see the difference between the sides." Tuesday, 26 February, 2019 Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 Dijon FCO Thomas Tuchel (PSG coach): "I'm happy because my players showed the could change positions, change systems, without any drop in quality. Angel Di Maria won the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2014 and was key in that final. For me it's a gift to have a player like him. In the absence of [Edinson] Cavani, Neymar and [Kylian] Mbappé, he was crucial. Dijon were very brave." Antoine Kombouaré (Dijon coach): "It was difficult. PSG did everything to start well. I watched their last two games and thought they might be out of gas, but this simply wasn't the case. Thomas Tuchel put out his best possible team. He took us very seriously and it made it tough for us. We got better in the second half and got close to their goal, but we weren't clinical enough." 03/01/2019 Ligue de Football Professionnel / Ligue1.com 8