Lille finished the Ligue 1 season in third place, securing a place in next season’s Champions League, despite a 2–0 defeat at home to Auxerre on the final day. Already crowned French champions Paris Saint-Germain ended the domestic season on a poor note.
Three clubs – Lille, Lyon and Rennes – could have finished third before Sunday’s final round of matches and joined champions PSG and number two Lens in Europe’s top club competition. But none of the three managed to win and Lille secured the coveted spot, one point above Lyon, who progress to Champions League qualification.
Mali striker Lassine Sinayoko scored a brace for Auxerre, which would keep his team in the top flight and avoid the relegation play-off.
«This is not the match we wanted to play, but the most important thing is that we finish third. It is the reward for a whole season. We should not concentrate on this last match,» said Lille captain Benjamin Andre. «This is very important for the club. Everyone wants to play in the Champions League.»
Lyon’s hopes of finishing third quickly faded as coach Paulo Fonseca’s players found themselves trailing by three goals before half-time at home to Lens. Florian Thauvin scored another goal in the second half to seal the visitors’ 4-0 win.
Meanwhile, Marseille defeated Rennes 3-1 with goals from Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg, Amine Gouiri and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Esteban Lepaul, the league’s top scorer, reduced the deficit with his 21st goal this season.
The win moved Marseille into fifth place – level with Rennes but with a better goal difference – and into the Europa League.
In Paris, PSG, which sealed its fourteenth league title on Wednesday, made a short trip to neighboring Paris FC and ended the domestic season with a 2-1 defeat.
Bradley Barcola put PSG ahead only for Alimami Gory to level in the 76th and complete his brace in added time. PSG was eliminated from the French Cup by Paris FC in January.
PSG will now focus on preparations for the Champions League final against Arsenal on May 30 at the Puskas Arena in Budapest.
Nice, who drew 0-0 with last-place Metz, finished 16th and will face Saint-Etienne in a tough promotion-relegation play-off. The field was entered a few seconds after the final whistle.
Strasbourg made a remarkable comeback to beat Monaco 5–4 after trailing 4–1 in the 55th minute. Martial Godo and Sebastian Nanasi both scored twice in the match.
Veteran Nantes coach Vahid Halilhodzic saw the last match of his career end with an abandoned match.
Before the match against Toulouse, Halilhodzic was honored with a guard of honor from the players and staff and was treated to loud applause.
But the evening quickly descended into chaos as fans, angry over Nantes’ relegation to the second division, stormed the pitch. After a lengthy interruption, local authorities ordered the match to be halted for safety reasons.
Halilhodzic, 74, is retiring after returning to Nantes in March and failing in his mission to keep the eight-time champion among the elite.
Halilhodzic won the French title with Nantes as striker in 1983 and is third on the club’s all-time top scorer list with 93 league goals. He scored eight goals for the then Yugoslavia. His coaching career included spells at Lille – where he was named coach of the season – and PSG, before taking charge of Ivory Coast, Algeria, Japan and Morocco.
Published on May 18, 2026
