Marseille is chasing a win at second-place Auxerre on Friday,
hoping to move eight points clear atop the standings and onto the
verge of its first French league title in 18 years.
Coach Didier Deschamps' side has won its last seven league
matches. Extending that streak to eight would give Marseille the
chance to seal the title in front of the club's passionate home
fans at Stade Velodrome on May 5.
"If we win against Auxerre, we will have taken a big step
toward success. Everything will then come down to the game against
Rennes in front of our home supporters," midfielder Mathieu
Valbuena said. "But we should not think too far ahead and we must
focus on the Auxerre match, which won't be easy."
With four matches remaining, Marseille is a strong favorite
to add the league title to the League Cup it has won this season.
Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco will play for the French Cup
final on Saturday at Stade de France.
After 34 matches in the league, Marseille has 71 points and
Auxerre has 66. Lille is in third place with 61, and Montpellier is
in fourth spot with 60.
But only Auxerre, which rallied after struggling at the start
of the season with three straight losses, has any realistic chance
of stopping Deschamps' team.
Deschamps has urged his team not to consider the Auxerre game
as the title decider.
"If we manage to win, we will have taken a big step, but it
won't be over as mathematically nothing will have been decided,"
Valbuena said on the club's website. "But even if we lose, we will
still be in control of our destiny."
Auxerre's rise to second place has come largely thanks to the
form of Poland striker Irineusz Jelen, who has 13 league goals and
is just two behind equal leaders Mamadou Niang (Marseille) and
Kevin Gameiro (Lorient).
Jelen is conscious that there's more at stake against
Marseille than three points in the league.
"We know that it will be practically impossible to win the
title," Jelen said. "At the start of the season our objective was
to stay up. Now we have another objective: The Champions League.
That is incredible."
Defending champion Bordeaux's miserable run continued when it
lost 2-0 at Valenciennes on Wednesday.
A fifth defeat in the last six French league games for coach
Laurent Blanc's team means it is struggling to even qualify for a
Champion League spot. Bordeaux is in sixth place with 57 points,
two behind fifth-place Lyon.
Lyon lost 3-0 Tuesday to Bayern Munich in the second leg of
the Champions League semifinals, and will be aiming to make amends
by winning at Montpellier on Sunday night to keep alive its chances
of playing next season in Europe.
"The big clubs know how to lose with their heads held high,"
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas said. "If we want to relive this
kind of saga we need to prepare properly for the end of season, and
notably against Montpellier this weekend. We will need to be really
strong on Sunday night."
Brazilian winger Michel Bastos says that Lyon's run to the
Champions League semifinals would be wasted if it does not qualify
for next season's competition.
"We have to give everything in the league to get back in the
Champions League again," Bastos said.
In Sunday's other games, it is: Bordeaux vs. Toulouse;
Boulogne vs. Nice; Lille vs. Nancy; Rennes vs. Sochaux;
Saint-Etienne vs. Lens; and Valenciennes vs. Lorient.
