Already-relegated Montpellier HSC welcome champions Paris Saint-Germain to the Stade de la Mosson in a Ligue 1 dead rubber on Saturday night.
The hosts are at rock bottom after suffering a dismal relegation in their 50th-anniversary year, while PSG are flying high after reaching the Champions League final on Wednesday.
Match preview
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It was a joyous night for all involved at PSG, as the club were able to celebrate with their supporters after reaching the Champions League final, something they were not able to do when achieving the same feat during the pandemic in 2020.
Luis Enrique‘s men beat Arsenal 3-1 on aggregate to book their ticket to Munich where Inter Milan will be waiting at the end of the month, and with the Ligue 1 title already in the bag, little focus will be placed on their final two games of the campaign.
Instead, with an unprecedented treble on the line, Enrique will be looking towards the Coupe de France final with Reims on May 24, before the showdown with Inter on May 31.
PSG’s form in Ligue 1 has taken a hit since the semi-finals of the Champions League came around, because they prepared for the first leg against Arsenal by suffering their first defeat of the season at home to Nice.
With an unbeaten season no longer possible, Enrique made 10 changes at Strasbourg last weekend and saw his ‘B’ team beaten 2-1 by Liam Rosenior‘s in-form Alsatians, as PSG fell to back-to-back league defeats for the first time in over two years.
Even if Enrique protects the bulk of his starting XI ahead of those two finals, they should still have enough to arrest that run here, because the visitors have won all of their previous 11 matches against Montpellier.
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Relegation was confirmed prior to Montpellier’s matchday 31 fixture two weeks ago, in what has been one of the worst Ligue 1 campaigns in recent memory.
A beleaguered Montpellier have lost 24 of their 32 league games this season, and another here will break the all-time record of defeats in a 34-game season, which was set by Red Star back in the 1940s.
Zoumana Camara may have seen his side halt an 11-game losing run at home to Reims two weeks ago, but they fell to defeat once more last week, as Brest beat them by a solitary goal.
Camara replaced Jean-Louis Gasset with the view of him taking the team forward in Ligue 2 next season, aided by a huge overhaul of the playing squad, who have evidently downed tools in the second half of the season.
Any chance of the hosts taking something from this fixture looks incredibly slim, because they have conceded 41 goals in their last 10 meetings with PSG – the most any club has conceded across a 10-game spell against another club in Ligue 1 history.
Team News
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After reaching the Champions League final on Wednesday, it is likely most of the XI who started against Arsenal will not start either of their final two Ligue 1 matches this season.
Ousmane Dembele is almost certain to miss out, as he was rushed back just in time to feature off the bench in the second leg in the week, but he will now be given ample time to rest and recover ahead of the two finals later this month.
Lee Kang-in will be fine after going off at half-time against Strasbourg, so Enrique should have a fully-fit squad to choose from, meaning a similar XI may be named to the one that started in Alsace.
Wahbi Khazri and Teji Savanier could be left out entirely after they were jeered and taunted for their weight in Montpellier’s last home fixture two weeks ago, which almost started a fight between the Tunisian international and the supporters.
Camara may need those two just to fill out the squad though, as the hosts are without a number of first-team players due to injury at present, with Issiaga Sylla, Christopher Jullien, Nikola Maksimovic and Modibo Sagnan are all missing in defence, while the promising Nicolas Pays is out with a foot injury.
Andy Delort could return from illness to be part of the squad, but fellow attacker Othmane Maamma is away on international duty with Morocco at the Under-20 AFCON.
Montpellier HSC possible starting lineup:
Lecomte; Ndollo Bille, Mouanga, Omeragic, Mincarelli, Sainte-Luce; Coulibaly, Nzingoula, Ferri, Fayad; Ndiaye
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Safonov; Kamara, Tape, Lucas Beraldo, Hernandez; Mayulu, Lee, Zaire-Emery; Mbaye, Goncalo Ramos, Barcola
We say: Montpellier HSC 1-6 Paris Saint-Germain
You have to go back to 2010, and before the Qatari takeover, to find the last time PSG lost three successive matches in Ligue 1, and thankfully for them, Montpellier are unlikely going to put up much resistance.
Only twice in the 21st century has a team at the bottom of Ligue 1 beaten the club at the top of the standings, and the gap between top and bottom has never been quite as stark as this, and a repeat of the 6-0 thrashing inflicted on Montpellier in the reverse fixture could be in store.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
