Ligue 1: PSG-OL, duel for the throne… in the shadow of the Ballon d’Or

A sense of deja vu. Last year, it was because of the weather that PSG played the Classic in Marseille on the day of the coronation of Ousmane Dembélé, winner of the 2025 Ballon d'or. This time, it was the tense social climate and the demonstrations on Saturday which caused the postponement of the clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais. Initially scheduled for Sunday, this meeting between the first two in the ranking at the end of the previous day was postponed by 24 hours and will finally take place this Monday, at the same time as the Ballon d'Or ceremony, relocated to London.

This does not suit the Professional Football League (LFP), nor the broadcaster Ligue 1+, nor the two clubs, which have many nominees in the running for the various trophies which will be presented at the London Palladium. As for the men's Ballon d'Or, there are ten Parisian players on the list, but it should be remembered that the two main candidates for the coronation, Ousmane Dembélé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, are injured.

Football overtaken by the social context

That's how it is. Everyone has to live with it. Including Paris, Lyon and the LFP. If political debate is banned in the stands, like the pro-student and anti-police banner deployed and quickly censored at the Parc des Princes, during the recent championship match against Le Mans (3-1), football is overtaken by the current social climate and the troubled political context. And have to deal with it. In all cases, Lyon supporters were prohibited from traveling. And given the diametrically opposed political appetites of the main groups of supporters of the two clubs, the Collectif Ultras Paris (CUP) and the Bad Gones, it is perhaps not worse...

Note that the LFP regulations require playing a match postponed to the first available date, hence the automatic shift to this Monday, knowing that there is no match scheduled for midweek in the European Cup, any more than in Ligue 1 or the Coupe de France for that matter.

Pole position at stake

All this being established, football will therefore resume its rights this Monday evening, between an OL which appeared at the top of the Ligue 1 standings at the end of the seventh day, and its Parisian runner-up. In fact, there were five teams in first place before the eighth round, with the same number of points, including AS Monaco and Lille, who failed to decide between themselves on Sunday (1-1), and Paris FC, beaten in Lens (2-1) on Saturday. If there is a winner at the Park this Monday, they will take back the crown. In the event of this draw, it is Rennes, winner of Strasbourg (3-0) on Sunday, who would remain in control.

Obviously, the status of L1 leader at the end of the eighth day does not bode well for obtaining the title of champion of France. It's too early. But it doesn't hurt to appear at the top of the rankings, regardless of how far along the season is. Especially for Gones who flirted with administrative relegation in 2025 and who never cease to surprise, despite limited resources. “It's good to be first, even if it's not the most important at the moment,” said Paulo Fonseca after the success over Nice (2-1) last weekend. But having 14 points is very positive. Naturally, this brings confidence and more responsibility, but at this time of the season, that changes nothing,” he swore.

Same story on the Parisian side. A few weeks ago, Luis Enrique said ironically: “If you want to bet who will be the champion at the end of the season…”. Yes, but here it is: a terrible rain of injuries is currently falling on the capital, with Ousmane Dembélé, Marquinhos and Nuno Mendes out for several weeks and “Kvara” unavailable for many months, or even the rest of the season. Initially seen as understudies, Ferran Torres, Maghnes Akliouche, Mika Godts, Lucas Hernandez (hero of Tuesday's match in C1), Lucas Digne and Illya Zabarnyi will have the opportunity to show that they deserve better than the status of luxury replacement. In recent weeks, we have especially noticed that Paris has no plan B, like the success in Strasbourg (1-3), only made possible by the entry of executives.