COACHLESS AND CLINICAL: HOW RENNES SHOCKED THE WORLD TO DISMANTLE PSG’S LIGUE 1 LEAD
Rennes shock PSG with a 3-1 victory! Read how Mousa Al-Tamari and Breel Embolo ended Paris's win streak and opened the title race.
Four days after sacking coach Habib Beye, Rennes pulled off a shocker. They took down Paris Saint-Germain 3-1, snapping PSG’s seven-game winning streak in Ligue 1. Now, second-placed Lens has a real shot at jumping past PSG and grabbing the top spot if they beat Paris FC in the capital on Saturday.
PSG actually started strong. Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue both found some space early on, but nothing came of it.
After Beye got the boot on Monday, Rennes promoted his assistant, Sebastien Tambouret. Suddenly, the squad that had lost four matches in a row looked like a different team.
Mousa Al-Tamari, their Jordanian forward, opened the scoring in the 34th minute with a rocket into the bottom corner.
In the 69th minute, Esteban Lepaul headed in a second goal from a corner. Just two minutes later, Dembele pulled one back for PSG, finishing off a deflected cross.
Luis Enrique responded by swapping out Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for Bradley Barcola and Lee Kang-in, probably thinking ahead to PSG’s Champions League play-off at Monaco this week.
But Rennes weren’t done. Breel Embolo, coming off the bench, smashed in a third goal with nine minutes left. That sealed the win and pushed Rennes up to fifth place.
Dembele, who’s now scored seven times in his last ten games, didn’t sugarcoat things. “We need to win these kinds of matches. We need to play as a team, not as individuals,” he said. “We have to show more desire. If we just play for ourselves, we won’t win the titles we want.”
He also gave credit to Rennes, where he broke through as a young player. “Rennes played a really good match,” he admitted.
Luis Enrique picked Matvei Safonov over Lucas Chevalier in goal, but Safonov couldn’t see Al-Tamari’s opener. At the back, Willian Pacho didn’t put up a fight, and Illia Zabarnyi looked slow on the other two goals.
Meanwhile, PSG’s Champions League rivals Monaco host Nantes in Friday’s late game.
PSG BENEFITS FROM FRIDAY FIXTURE AS LIVERPOOL RECOVERS FROM SATURDAY’S HIGH-INTENSITY CLASH
PSG beats Toulouse 3-1 as Ousmane Dembele scores twice. See why Luis Enrique is confident facing Arne Slot’s Liverpool.
Liverpool’s got no time to catch its breath after losing to Manchester City on Saturday. Now comes the real test: Arne Slot’s team has to face the defending European champs next.
Honestly, after that 4-0 thumping at the Etihad, hope among Liverpool fans is pretty thin. The Champions League feels like the only shot at any kind of glory this season, but even that seems far-fetched right now. They’re heading to France to play PSG in the first leg of the quarter-final, and Luis Enrique’s squad had a way easier time this weekend.
While Liverpool struggled big time against Haaland and his crew, PSG cruised to a 3-1 win over Toulouse. Ousmane Dembele showed why he’s a Ballon d’Or winner; he scored two goals, one before and one after Toulouse’s strike. Then Goncalo Ramos sealed the deal in stoppage time.
PSG got to play on Friday, which means more rest and prep for the big Champions League clash. Enrique rotated his squad, resting three important players: Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, and Joao Neves started on the bench but got minutes later. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia left just before the 70th minute, and Desire Doue was subbed out near the end.
Dembele and Achraf Hakimi, who hit their 200th club appearance, played the whole match. PSG really benefitted from Lens losing 3-0 to Lille too, solidifying their spot at the top.
Enrique seemed pretty pleased after the win. He said grabbing those points was crucial, especially after the international break. Lots of players came back tired, but PSG handled it. Playing on Friday made things harder, but now they’ve got some downtime before facing Liverpool.
Still, PSG’s victory wasn’t flawless. Matvei Safonov, their keeper, fumbled a cross that led to Toulouse’s goal. So now there’s talk about whether he should keep his place against Liverpool or if Lucas Chevalier gets the nod.
PSG heads into Wednesday’s showdown full of confidence. Liverpool, honestly, needs something special to turn things around.
PSG’S REQUEST FOR A WEEK OFF BETWEEN LIVERPOOL GAMES SPARKS DOMESTIC OUTRAGE
Paris Saint-Germain requests a Ligue 1 postponement against Lens to prepare for their Champions League tie with Liverpool.
Paris Saint-Germain is sticking to its request to postpone a Ligue 1 match so it can get ready for its big Champions League clash with Liverpool.
People have been poking fun at PSG for trying to move their game against Lens, another top team in the league. Lens flat-out rejected the idea. PSG pulled off something similar when they played Chelsea in Europe, and now they want another week off between their matches with Liverpool.
Right now, that Lens match falls right between the two Liverpool games. French media says the league will decide after the LFP board meets this Thursday.
Even with the criticism, PSG claims this isn’t just about them; it’s for the good of French football.
Le Parisien reports PSG’s message: they say their push to reschedule is organised, above board, and doesn’t undermine the competition. One club insider put it like this: Every French team in European competitions lifts the entire league. France is sitting in sixth place in the race for UEFA’s 2025-26 season, and getting to fifth would mean more French clubs in Europe – up to seven of them.
It’s not just pride that’s on the line; there’s cash and exposure, too. If two French teams make the European semi-finals, Ligue 1 gets a boost on and off the field.
PSG also pointed out that the league has moved matches for this exact reason plenty of times before, especially to help French clubs in Europe.
Lens, meanwhile, isn’t hiding how they feel. They released a statement making their opposition clear.
They said the whole thing makes it feel like Ligue 1 is just an afterthought, ready to change at a moment’s notice to suit European ambitions. They argue this simply isn’t fair, which, in their eyes, sets French football apart from other major leagues.
Lens says moving the game would mean they go fifteen days without playing, then suddenly play every three days. That’s a totally different schedule than what was agreed on at the start of the season, and it’s a load that could really mess with a club like theirs.
