Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday failed to the seal the Ligue 1 title for the third match running after a second-string lineup without dropped Kylian Mbappe took the champions to their second defeat in a matter of days, 3-2 at Nantes.
A Diego Carlos brace and a Majeed Waris tap-in inflicted a third league loss on Thomas Tuchel’s side, who were hammered 5-1 at second-placed Lille OSC on Sunday and drew with RC Strasbourg the previous week, despite Dani Alves’ stunning opener and substitute Metehan Guclu pulling one back late on.
However PSG, who were also playing without a host of other first-team players due to injuries and suspension, remain 17 points clear with six games left.
The runaway leaders could win their sixth title in seven years on Sunday if Lille fail to win at Toulouse and they then beat struggling AS Monaco.
Tuchel refused to reveal if he left Mbappe out of the squad for blasting his teammates for “lacking personality” after the Lille loss, saying that there would be “no explanation” of his decision.
“It’s very easy to analyze, it was a very bad performance, we deserved to lose,” Tuchel said. “We controlled the game at Lille, but today there was no performance for 90 minutes.”
“You can lose and you can make mistakes, and we will always defend the players if we feel that they’ve played with a great attitude and hunger, but today it is not possible,” he said.
Depleted PSG had to thank Gianluigi Buffon 12 minutes in when he managed to push away Kalifa Coulibaly’s header from point-blank range, and seven minutes later Alves appeared to have calmed Parisian nerves with his wonder strike.
There looked to be little on when the Brazilian collected Leandro Paredes’ simple pass, but he quickly lashed an unstoppable dipping drive past Maxime Dupe to score his first Ligue 1 goal this season.
However, just three minutes after the opener, Carlos was allowed too much space to nod home a Valentin Ronger in-swinging corner.
PSG continued to struggle and the hosts grabbed a deserved second just before the break.
Coulibaly was at the heart of it, brushing Thilo Kehrer off the ball on the left flank, before cutting back to Samuel Moutoussamy, whose mishit shot evaded the dozing PSG defense and found Waris for the simplest of tap-ins.
Nantes turned the screw seven minutes after the break from another corner, this one met by a Nicolas Pallois flick-on that crept through a sea of legs to Carlos, who unwittingly knocked in the third.
Guclu crashed home his first-ever PSG goal on his debut in the final minute to give the away side hope that they could still clinch the title with six matches to spare, but despite pressing forward, they could not find the breakthrough.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
Hulking Italian sprinter Jonathan Milan on Monday surged away from the pack to win the second stage of the Criterium de Dauphine in Issoire, France, to take the overall lead from Tadej Pogacar. The 1.93m, 87kg Milan had to battle to keep up on a hilly 204.6km run through central France from Premilhat. When the pack hit the home straight, he rocketed away from his rivals to collect a 10-second victory bonus and the yellow jersey. “That was really tough,” Milan said. “I was dropped at one point, and I was really on the limit, but I have to say
HEARTBROKEN: Oman dashed Palestine’s hopes of a first appearance at the finals with a last-gasp draw, after Palestine conceded a penalty deep in stoppage-time Brazil on Tuesday booked their place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America with a lackluster 1-0 home victory over Paraguay, the first win of Carlo Ancelotti’s reign, while in Asia, Australia qualified. Five-time world champions Brazil punched their ticket to the finals in Canada, the US and Mexico thanks to Vinicius Jr. The Real Madrid star poked in from close range in the 44th minute in Sao Paulo after a cross from new Manchester United signing Matheus Cunha. It was the perfect gift for the Italian Ancelotti on his 66th birthday, having seen his new side held 0-0 by Ecuador
RSS