PSG win 11th Ligue 1 title in 13 seasons with 6 games to spare
by AFP · The42Updated at 22.49
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN clinched the Ligue 1 title on Saturday with a 1-0 win at home against Angers as they prepare for a Champions League quarter-final showdown with Aston Villa.
PSG needed just a draw in front of their own fans to be confirmed as champions again, having started the day a huge 21 points clear of nearest challengers Monaco with seven matches left.
Desire Doue’s strike early in the second half decided the game in PSG’s favour, allowing Luis Enrique’s team to take the title with six matches still to play.
It is a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title for the club from the French capital and their 11th in the last 13 seasons, highlighting the extent to which they have dominated domestically since being taken over by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011.
“Our ambition is to win everything,” said captain Marquinhos, who has now won 10 titles since joining the club in 2013, to broadcaster beIN Sports.
“It is a nice feeling. It is the reward for the work we have put in throughout the season, for our consistency, and the team deserves it,” added the Brazilian centre-back, who will be suspended for the first leg against Villa.
PSG’s overall tally of 13 French league titles is three more than Saint-Etienne, who are the next most successful club with 10 but have not been champions since 1981.
Marseille have won nine titles, while Nantes and Monaco have each been champions on eight occasions.
The extent to which winning the French league has become a routine exercise for the Parisian outfit helps explain why celebrations were far from excessive on a beautiful spring day in the city.
However, Luis Enrique was raised aloft by members of his coaching staff while the PSG players undertook a lap of honour of the Parc des Princes pitch.
The trophy ceremony will take place at a later date, with PSG maintaining their focus on the European clash with Villa, who visit the Parc des Princes for the first leg of their quarter-final on Wednesday, before the return in England on 15 April.
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- Unbeaten season? -
However, PSG have another objective in their sights in the league, one which would make this title triumph stand out above all others.
They remain undefeated after 28 matches, with 23 wins and just five draws, and are on course to become the first team to complete a Ligue 1 campaign without losing a game.
The closest any French side has come to an unbeaten season remains Nantes, who went undefeated through their first 32 matches before losing their only game on the way to winning the title in 1994/95.
That was a 38-game season, while PSG will only play 34 matches in this campaign, with the league having recently been reduced from 20 clubs to 18.
They will not play again in Ligue 1 until a home meeting with Le Havre on April 19, with next week’s trip to Nantes postponed to 22 April to allow PSG to recover in between the two legs of their tie against Villa.
Ousmane Dembele, PSG’s top scorer with 32 goals in all competitions this season, was rested at kick-off against Angers, having netted twice in the 4-2 midweek win over second-tier Dunkerque in the semi-finals of the French Cup.
Bradley Barcola, the team’s second-top marksman on 18 goals, was also left out of the starting line-up, and it was far from a vintage performance by the home side.
They were perhaps fortunate early on when Angers forward Esteban Lepaul ran through on goal before being outmuscled by Willian Pacho, the challenge a fair one in the eyes of the referee.
Doue was on hand to convert from a Khvicha Kvaratskhelia cross 10 minutes into the second half as he scored his 11th goal in all competitions since signing from Rennes at the start of the season.
That proved enough for PSG to win the game and take the title, maintaining Luis Enrique’s record of having won every domestic trophy since he took over prior to last season.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Brest scored in injury time to beat Monaco 2-1, meaning Marseille can go above the principality club into second with a win on Sunday against Toulouse.
Lyon came from behind to beat Lille 2-1 in Saturday’s other Ligue 1 game, a key encounter in the fight for Champions League qualification.
In Italy, Inter Milan stumbled in their bid to retain the Serie A title after throwing away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Parma on Saturday, giving Napoli a chance to cut the champions’ league lead to a single point.
Goals in the first half from Matteo Darmian and Marcus Thuram appeared to have sent Inter on their way to moving six points clear at the top of the division ahead of their Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich.
But Adrian Bernabe halved the deficit for Parma on the hour mark with a daisy cutter from distance, and the hosts were level nine minutes later when Jacob Ondrejka’s strike was deflected past Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
In Germany, Emiliano Buendia snatched a stoppage-time winner to give Bayer Leverkusen a 1-0 win at Heidenheim on Saturday, keeping their slim hopes of defending their league title alive.
Eliminated from the German Cup by third-division Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday, Leverkusen needed a win to stay six points behind league leaders Bayern Munich, who won 3-1 at Augsburg on Friday.
Xabi Alonso’s side looked out of ideas in attack against the relegation candidates, missing the creative spark of injured playmaker Florian Wirtz.
However, as they have done so often under the Spaniard, Leverkusen scored in injury time to grab all three points, Buendia curling home from outside the box on 91 minutes.
In La Liga, Barcelona failed to break down a frantic Real Betis defence as they were held to a 1-1 draw in La Liga on Saturday but still gained ground on Real Madrid, who earlier conceded deep into added time to lose 2-1 at home to Valencia.
Barcelona moved four points ahead of Real Madrid atop La Liga. Both teams face Champions League first-leg ties this week; Real visit Arsenal on Tuesday, and Barcelona play in Dortmund the following evening.
Barcelona cut open Betis in the seventh minute, and Gavi slid the ball past goalkeeper Adrian from inside the six-yard box.
But the hosts were unable to turn a series of lively attacks into goals. Instead, the visitors hit back after 16 minutes when centre-back Natan Souza escaped the clutches of his defender to head home a Giovani Lo Celso corner.
In the Netherlands, there was disappointment for Troy Parrott’s AZ Alkmaar as their 1-0 loss to Feyenoord left them sixth in the Eredivisie table