Marseille Eye Ligue 1 Top Spot Despite Champions League Setback

Marseille will aim to maintain their Ligue 1 lead when they visit Lens on Saturday, following a midweek Champions League disappointment. Roberto De Zerbi’s side tops the French table by a single point ahead of Paris Saint-Germain after an impressive start to the season.

The 1993 European champions have lost just once in Ligue 1, bouncing back to win six of seven matches. Their attacking prowess has been on full display, scoring four or more goals on three occasions, including a 6 – 2 demolition of Le Havre. A rare win against PSG and a 4 – 0 thrashing of Ajax raised hopes of a strong European campaign.

However, Marseille’s Champions League ambitions took a hit with a 2 – 1 defeat at Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday. Igor Paixao opened the scoring for the Portuguese side and the match swung after Emerson Palmieri received a second booking for simulation, leading to his dismissal. Sporting capitalized on the extra man to secure the win.

De Zerbi stressed the importance of recovery: “We have a tough match at Lens. We must recover physically and mentally and deliver top performance.”

Lens, meanwhile, have started the season strongly, losing only to Lyon and PSG. A victory at home could see them leapfrog Marseille in the standings. New manager Pierre Sage, replacing Will Still, has made an immediate impact, while former Marseille star Florian Thauvin remains a key player. Thauvin, who spent nearly a decade at Marseille, earned a France national team recall after his impressive start at Lens.

Another player to watch in Ligue 1 this weekend is Ousmane Dembele. The Ballon d’Or winner scored within three minutes of returning from a six-week hamstring injury as PSG crushed Bayer Leverkusen 7-2. Dembele, who has seven goals against Brest, could feature in PSG’s trip to Brest on Saturday.

Key Status: Marseille lead Ligue 1 after eight matches for the first time since 2014. Brest has not beaten PSG in 32 matches since January 1985. Joaquin Panichelli has netted nine headed goals in league football since last season.

Fixtures: Saturday sees Brest vs PSG, Monaco vs Toulouse and Lens vs Marseille, while Sunday features Lille vs Metz, Rennes vs Nice and Lyon vs Strasbourg.

Marseille must quickly rebound to protect their domestic lead and continue their pursuit of Ligue 1 glory.