Bordeaux boss Blanc ready to send ‘B-team’ to ease congestion

February 9, 2010

Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc has revealed he is prepared to send his B team to play a delayed Coupe de la Ligue semi-final next week after the French League turned down his request to ease the crowded calendar.

Blanc unsuccessfully asked officials to move a Ligue 1 match against Auxerre on February 20 forward by a day to allow his players an extra day to prepare for a Champions League second-round tie at Olympiakos on February 23.

The French champions must also play a semi-final at Lorient on February 17 and Blanc told a news conference on Monday: “I am ready to send the B team. We are going to play four matches over 10 days.”

Bordeaux are currently top of the Ligue 1 table, though Montpellier closed the gap to three points after they won and les Girondins lost 4-2 to Stade Rennes at the weekend.

Tags: auxerre, b team, Bordeaux, champions league, coach, congestion, february 17, French, french league, gap, girondins, laurent blanc, les girondins, Ligue 1, Lorient, Montpellier, News, news conference, Olympiakos, play four, Rennes, request, stade rennes

Bordeaux´s vintage Blanc whets French palates

February 6, 2010

Six points clear and hurtling towards a second straight league title, life is rosy for fans of Bordeaux – but a bitter twist may be on the menu if coach Laurent Blanc proves irresistible to the palates of those who pick the national coach.

Saturday’s trip to Rennes, who are chasing a top six finish, may prove to be less of a challenge in the overall scheme of things than fending off the high regard in which Blanc is clearly held by the French Football Federation.

The FFF, having last month confirmed they want a new man at the helm of the national squad after the World Cup in place of Raymond Domenech, are keen admirers and Le Parisien daily on Thursday was trumpeting that a deal was in the offing.

A spokesman immediately denied the story after the paper reported that an agreement was “more than probable.”

Le Parisien indicated that 44-year-old Blanc, who won 97 caps and who was a star of the French 1998 World Cup-winning and Euro 2000 winning side (though he missed the final of the former through suspension), had met a “very high-ranking federation member during January.”

Despite their swift move to rebut the story the FFF have made it clear that they expect to name their man by May 20.

“Out of respect, this should be done before the World Cup,” FFF head Jean-Pierre Escalettes said after a meeting of the FFF federal council last week.

Marseille’s Didier Deschamps, skipper of the 1998 and 2000 sides, is another name in the frame.

A decision on May 20 would at least allow Bordeaux to seal their title dreams.

For the meeting with Rennes Blanc will send in the heavyweights after resting several key men in the midweek league cup success over second division Sedan.

That was as much as a punishment as anything given last weekend’s disappointing goalless draw with struggling Boulogne.

Argentine defender Diego Placente will miss the Rennes game after being allowed to visit his homeland for the birth of his second child.

Trying to keep pace with Bordeaux are surprise package Montpellier, one of Blanc’s former clubs and who last week showed their form was no flash in the pan by beating Marseille.

Now the southerners travel to Boulogne, four points from safety but who can take heart from their draw with Bordeaux.

Third-placed Lille, a solitary point clear of Champions League survivors Lyon, have a trip to Nice, mired in the bottom five.

Lyon must for now put aside thoughts of their impending tussle with Real Madrid to ensure they stay just about in touch with Bordeaux with a win on Sunday at Toulouse.

Nine points off the pace in the title race, Lyon go up against a Toulouse side beaten right at the wire in midweek by Marseille in the league cup semi and who are doubly keen to bounce back from that disappointment as last year they lost in the semis of the French Cup.

“It’s cruel to go through that two years in a row,” said coach Alain Casanova, who nonetheless knows that victory over Lyon would mean six league wins and a draw since the turn of the year.

Three points would also move the southerners from “la ville rose” to within four points of Lyon.

“We’ll be out to overcome our (Cup) frustration and use our anger to propel us to three points,” warned Casanova.

Monaco and Auxerre are level on points with Lyon and away wins at strugglers St. Etienne and Grenoble respectively would see them go joint second with Montpellier if the latter came a cropper at Boulogne.

Paris St Germain, once again nearer the drop zone than the Champions League placings, badly need a win at home to Lorient – three points better off – while Marseille host Valenciennes on Sunday aiming to close a four-point gap on the top three.

Fixtures (1800 GMT unless stated):

Boulogne v Montpellier, Grenoble v Auxerre, Lens v Le Mans, Nice v Lille, Paris SG v Lorient, Sochaux v Nancy, Rennes v Bordeaux (2000)

Sunday

Saint-Etienne v Monaco (1600), Toulouse v Lyon (1600), Marseille v Valenciennes (2000)

PARIS (AFP)

Tags: cup success, didier deschamps, diego placente, euro 2000, federation member, fff, french football federation, heavyweights, laurent blanc, le parisien daily, national coach, palates, raymond domenech, scheme of things, six points, straight league, swift move, winning side

Brandao double fires Marseille into final

February 4, 2010

A double by Brazilian striker Brandao saw Marseille come from behind to beat Toulouse 2-1 after extra-time and move to within sight of their first silverware since 1993 as they reached the League Cup final on Wednesday.

Brandao – a six million euro signing from Ukraine’s UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2009 transfer window – struck with a header in the 85th minute.

He then delivered the killer blow in the 104th minute to cancel out France international Andre-Pierre Gignac’s opener for the hosts.

Both sides had played out a relatively cagey first-half with Brandao going down in the ninth minute with a head wound, which required him to go off and return some six minutes later with the cut bandaged.

Strike partner Lucho Gonzalez was the only one of the visiting team to trouble the Toulouse goal going closest with a 25-metre effort which fizzed past the post in the 18th minute.

The hosts’ most effective player going forward in the first 45 minutes was their recent signing, England-born Turkish international Kazim Kazim, who had scored at the weekend after coming on as a substitute.

He made several incisive forays down the flank but his efforts were wasted on Gignac.

However, Gignac was to make no mistake in the second-half when he got free of his marker to head home Albin Ebondo’s inch-perfect cross from the right.

Marseille coach Didier Deschamps – who was part of the Marseille side that won their last trophy the 1993 Champions League – reacted immediately by replacing Mathieu Valbuena with Hatem Ben Arfa to give them more attacking edge in midfield.

This paid off handsomely five minutes from time as Ben Arfa knocked in a great cross to the back post where Brandao was waiting gleefully to head home.

Brandao’s joy went into overdrive in the 104th minute when the ball fell to him on the edge of the box and he deftly touched the ball onto his left foot and shot home into the far corner.

On Tuesday Bordeaux booked their place in the last four with a 1-0 win over second division strugglers Sedan, who had knocked out the French champions of the competition at the same stage in 2008.

A second-half goal from Yoann Gouffran was enough to see Bordeaux – who showed 11 changes to their starting line-up from last Saturday’s 0-0 draw in the league with Boulogne-sur-mer – book a last four meeting with Lorient, a repeat of the 2002 final.

Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc said that contrary to what the critics thought he and his side treated every trophy seriously.

“Last year people said that Bordeaux didn’t care about the domestic cups (though they did win the League Cup),” he said.

“This year they can’t say that. Of course there is a price to pay for success and that is a heavier fixtures schedule, which will be the case this month,” said the 44-year-old, whose team are in the hunt for four trophies.

Bordeaux are away to Lorient – who last week stunned Lyon in their quarter-final – on February 17.

PARIS (AFP)

Tags: Albin Ebondo, Andre-Pierre Gignac, Ben Arfa, Bordeaux, Boulogne, brandao, champions league, didier deschamps, England, extra time, far corner, flank, forays, France, france international, Gonzalez, hatem, head wound, kazim, killer blow, laurent blanc, left foot, Lorient, lucho gonzalez, Lyon, Marseille, Mathieu Valbuena, overdrive, PARIS, silverware, six minutes, Toulouse, uefa cup winners, ukraine, valbuena

Brazilian duo extend deals at Bordeaux

February 2, 2010

Brazilian midfielders Fernando Menegazzo and Jussie have extended their current deals with French league champions Bordeaux, the club said on Tuesday.

Fernando had been courted by several Italian clubs, including Genoa, during the close season, but he has negotiated a three-year extension and will now stay in south-west France until 2014.

Jussie, formerly of Cruzeiro and Japanese side Kashiwa Reysol, agreed a four-year extension that will see him stay with Laurent Blanc’s side until 2015.

BORDEAUX, France (AFP)

Tags: Bordeaux, bordeaux france, Fernando, Fernando Menegazzo, France, french league, genoa, italian clubs, japanese side, laurent blanc, league champions, midfielders, south west france, west France

Puel urges Lyon to forget cup heartache

January 30, 2010

Lyon coach Claude Puel has told his players to get over the disappointment of their back-to-back cup exits by returning to winning ways against Paris Saint-Germain in the league on Sunday.

Les Gones went down 1-0 at Lorient in the quarter-finals of the League Cup on Wednesday, having been beaten by Monaco in the last 32 of the French Cup last weekend.

Their hopes of silverware appear to be fading fast, with the team currently sitting 11 points behind league leaders Bordeaux and set to confront the multi-million might of Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League.

“The match against Paris is very important,” said Puel. “We have to digest these two huge disappointments quickly and bounce back.

“The message is to recover well and quickly move onto something else, but you’re never guaranteed to respond well after a defeat.”

PSG beat third-tier Evian last Sunday to qualify for the last 16 of the French Cup but they, unlike Lyon, are still searching for their first league points of 2010.

The capital club have already lost to Lille and Monaco and travel to the Stade Gerland in 11th place, seven points behind fifth-placed Lyon.

Antoine Kombouare’s men can at least take heart from the return to fitness of last season’s top scorer Guillaume Hoarau, who scored against Evian on his first start since October.

Marseille, fourth, have the same number of points as Lyon with a game in hand but life is much rosier at the Stade Velodrome after they came from behind to beat Lille 2-1 on Wednesday to reach the League Cup last four.

The Mediterranean giants face a taxing trip to second-placed local rivals Montpellier on Saturday, but coach Didier Deschamps was enthused by his side’s performance in the victory over Lille.

“I enjoyed it and I think the players did too,” he said. “There were lots of good things; we controlled most aspects of the match, with a lot of movement, technical control and some nice moves.

“We must be capable of repeating this kind of performance against Montpellier on Saturday.”

Deschamps will have to do without France international goalkeeper Steve Mandana, who sustained a heavy knock against Lille, while Brazilian forward Brandao is likely to miss out after injuring his thigh in training.

Montpellier this week finalised the signing of in-form striker Olivier Giroud from Tours, but the 23-year-old was immediately loaned back to the Ligue 2 side until the end of the season.

Runaway league leaders Bordeaux remain in contention for four trophies this season – the league, both domestic cups and the Champions League – and coach Laurent Blanc says they will attempt to win them all.

“We’ll see what happens in the four competitions,” said Blanc, whose team host second-bottom Boulogne on Saturday.

“We have the time, for now we have the squad and not too many injuries. We can allow ourselves to rotate things. But the further we progress, the tighter it’ll get.”

Lille, third, host Lens on Saturday, while fourth-bottom Saint-Etienne will attempt to continue their unbeaten start to the year in the league when they visit seventh-placed Auxerre on Sunday.

Fixtures

Saturday (1800GMT unless otherwise stated)

Bordeaux v Boulogne, Le Mans v Toulouse, Lille v Lens, Monaco v Nice, Nancy v Lorient, Rennes v Grenoble, Montpellier v Marseille (2000GMT)

Sunday (1600GMT unless otherwise stated)

Auxerre v Saint-Etienne, Valenciennes v Sochaux, Lyon v Paris Saint-Germain (2000GMT)

PARIS (AFP)

Tags: Antoine Kombouare, Bordeaux, Boulogne, champions league, claude puel, didier deschamps, disappointment, disappointments, french cup, Germain, gones, guillaume, last sunday, laurent blanc, league leaders, Lille, Lorient, Lyon, MADRID, Marseille, Mediterranean, Monaco, Montpellier, Nancy, Nice, Olivier Giroud, PARIS, paris saint germain, quarter finals, real madrid, Rennes, saint etienne, seven points, stade gerland, stade velodrome, Steve Mandana, top scorer, Toulouse, winning ways

French giants out to avoid Cup slip-up

January 23, 2010

French title rivals Bordeaux and Lyon can take a break from their league exertions this weekend as the former look to avoid a potential banana skin in the French Cup while Lyon have an awkward trip to Monaco.

With an eight-point cushion in the league after their midweek come-from-behind win over bottom club Grenoble, Bordeaux boss Laurent Blanc was Thursday happily admitting he didn’t even have a transfer window wish list – “though maybe a joker to cover an injury would be a good thing.”

With a last 16 Champions League pair of encounters against Olympiakos to look forward to, a home round of 32 loss Saturday to second division Ajaccio would not exactly torpedo Bordeaux’s season.

The club have won the trophy three times – compared to a record ten for Marseille.

Marseille themselves are now out of the Champions League as well as the Cup, meaning their priority is hacking away at an 11-point gap in Ligue 1 as they try to land a first trophy of any description in 18 years.

Bordeaux should be at full strength save for keeper Cedric Carrasso, who injured a wrist against Marseill last week.

“We aren’t going to take any risk with him,” said Blanc.

Veteran Ulrich Rame will stand in between the posts.

Lyon travel down to Monaco on Sunday with coach Claude Puel urging them on after Wednesday’s recovery from going behind at Lorient.

Swede Kim Kallstrom scored a brace in a recovery which brought a 3-1 win and Puel on Thursday pronounced himself “very happy with the way the group showed this healthy reaction (to going a goal down) and showed their true colours.”

Puel will be particularly keen for a win at Monaco having previously coached the Riviera side, leading them to the league title at the start of the millennium.

Paris Saint Germain, mired in midtable following their home loss this week to Monaco, will only hope that third division Evian do not heap further misery upon them.

Coach Antoine Kombouare admits that “we are not talking about Europe,” but an eighth Cup success would prove a tonic.

Kombouare says if his men play as they did in losing 1-0 to Monaco, however, they have no chance.

“We could have played for three hours and not scored,” he lamented.

With the bad weather having made a mess of the previous round several round of 64 matches remain to be played, hence Saumur got the ball rolling in the round of 32 on Friday (Rennes defeated Saumur 4-0) before Saturday and Sunday see a mixture of both rounds together.

Round of 32 fixtures

Saturday

Beauvais v Agen

Quevilly v Angers

Bordeaux v Ajaccio

Raon l’Etape v Vesoul

Sunday

Mulhouse v Guingamp

Paris SG v Evian

Monaco v Lyon

Round of 64 matches

Saturday

Grenoble v Montpellier

Colmar v Lille

St Ouen l’Aumone v Sedan

Compiegne v Lens

St Louis Neuweg v Sochaux

Pontivy v Brest

Sunday

Thiers v Nancy

St Etienne v Lorient

PARIS (AFP)

Tags: Angers, Antoine Kombouare, banana skin, Beauvais, Bordeaux, bottom club, Cedric Carrasso, claude puel, Europe, Evian, exertions, french cup, french title, full strength, gap, Germain, Grenoble, kim kallstrom, laurent blanc, Ligue 1, Lille, Lorient, Marseille, midweek, Monaco, Montpellier, Mulhouse, Nancy, Olympiakos, paris saint germain, point cushion, point gap, Rennes, rivals, ST. LOUIS, swede, Ulrich Rame

Late Cheyrou strike checks 10-man Bordeaux

January 18, 2010

Benoit Cheyrou struck an 81st-minute equaliser to earn Marseille a 1-1 draw at Bordeaux on Sunday that kept his side in the title race, albeit 11 points behind the league leaders with a game in hand.

Defending champions Bordeaux led through a contested Steve Mandanda own goal on the cusp of half-time but lost goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso to injury and then had centre-back Marc Planus sent off.

The numerical advantage allowed Marseille to boss the match for the first time and they snatched a point when Cheyrou chested down a knockdown before volleying past substitute keeper Ulrich Rame, after Bordeaux’s defenders had been sucked towards Brandao at the defence of a free-kick.

The visitors came close to victory in the closing stages, but Rame saved superbly from Lucho Gonzalez’s instinctive toe-poke and Mathieu Valbuena flashed a low, right-footed shot narrowly wide.

Bordeaux now lead the French top flight by seven points from Lille, while Marseille climb above Lyon to fourth.

The opening goal went down as a Mandanda own goal but it owed everything to a superb cross from advancing centre-back Mickael Ciani and the single-mindedness of Marouane Chamakh, whose strong aerial challenge forced the France international goalkeeper to divert the ball into his own net.

The away side protested fiercely about the legitimacy of Chamakh’s leap but referee Laurent Duhamel turned a deaf ear.

It was shortly before the hour-mark that Bordeaux lost Carrasso to an injury apparently sustained taking a free-kick deep inside his own half.

Rame took over between the sticks and quickly found himself exposed when Mamadou Niang earned a free-kick right on the edge of the Bordeaux area, having been felled by Planus, who was promptly dismissed.

Planus’s expulsion was harsh given the presence of a covering defender in the form of Ciani, but Cheyrou could not capitalise with the dead ball.

Laurent Blanc had deployed Chamakh as a lone central focal point and Bordeaux’s attacking midfielders pressed high up the pitch, pinning Marseille deep inside their own half and cutting off Marseille’s own forward trident of Niang, Brandao and Fabrice Ariel.

The tactic gave Bordeaux control of proceedings in the first half but clear-cut chances were scarce.

Ciani had a shot deflected over the crossbar following a neat turn in the Marseille penalty box in the fifth minute, while Wendel and Yoann Gourcuff both drew straightforward saves from Mandanda.

In Saturday’s action, in-form Lille stretched their winning run to eight matches in all competitions and galvanised their grasp on second place by beating Paris Saint-Germain 3-1.

On the first weekend programme of fixtures after the winter break, Lyon got their season back on track with a 2-0 win at Nancy while Montpellier beat Nice 1-0 to hold onto third place in the table, a point shy of Lille.

PARIS (AFP)

Tags: benoit cheyrou, Bordeaux, bordeaux area, brandao, Cedric Carrasso, central focal point, ciani, deaf ear, equaliser, Fabrice Ariel, France, france international, free kick, Germain, Gonzalez, knockdown, laurent blanc, Laurent Duhamel, lucho gonzalez, Lyon, marc planus, marouane chamakh, Marseille, Mathieu Valbuena, Montpellier, Nancy, niang, Nice, PARIS, rame, Steve Mandanda

Blanc calls for new stadium for Bordeaux

December 21, 2009

Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc on Monday called for a new stadium to be built for the French champions with a view to France hosting the 2016 European football championships.

“If we don’t take advantage of Bordeaux’s results over the past two and a half years by building a new stadium, new grounds, a new structure which will allow us to have new financial resources, it’s absurd,” said Blanc, a 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winner.

Bordeaux will be one of 12 cities to feature in France’s bid to host Euro 2016, and have presented a project which would cost between 180 and 200 million euros.

Bordeaux football club whould finance half of the project, which their coach finds unreasonable.

“Do you know many clubs who invest this much in French projects?” said Blanc. “If it doesn’t happen I think personally we’ll have missed a phenomenal opportunity.

“When you don’t go forward in life and football you regress.

“I know that this won’t please many in this gloomy period when there are other priorities. I say that in my area, my sport, football, there are opportunities not to be missed.”

The new stadium would be financed up to the tune of 20 million euros by the state with the city of Bordeaux and the Bordeaux Urban Community (CUB) giving 15 million euros each.

Bordeaux major Alain Juppe has also suggested the possibility of the stadium being named after a sponsor who would pay up to 10 million euros.

The club currently play in the 34,694-seater Jacques-Chaban-Delmas stadium which was overhauled for the 1998 World Cup.

BORDEAUX, France (AFP)

Tags: 10 million, AFP, alain juppe, bordeaux football, bordeaux france, city of bordeaux, euro 2000, euro 2016, european football championships, financial resources, football club, jacques chaban delmas, laurent blanc, new grounds, phenomenal opportunity, two and a half years, urban community, whould, World Cup

Galtier looking to lift St Etienne

December 19, 2009

New St Etienne coach Christophe Galtier has warned that his side will be looking for a confidence booster to lift their sagging campaign against Marseille on Saturday.

Alain Perrin’s former assistant takes over a side in freefall as they struggle in the relegation zone with just 15 points from 17 games and two games left before the winter break in the French first division.

The club are far from the glory days of the 1960s and 1970s when they were one of the powerhouses of French football – winning the last of their ten league titles way back in 1981.

But former Marseille player Galtier insisted the “pressure and great expectations” on his shoulders would prove a motivator as his team take on second-placed Marseille just days after Perrin’s sacking.

“I’m capable of reversing the slump,” boasted Galtier of a side still reeling from the 3-0 loss at Paris Saint-Germain which cost Perrin his job.

“The group’s confidence is in freefall. The most important thing is to get confidence back into a team hit by poor results.”

But with a long injury list, Galtier will be hard pressed to do better than his predecessor, although he can count on defender Yohan Benalouane, back from suspension, to bolster Guirane N?Daw.

In-form Marseille claimed their third successive win midweek with a 2-1 victory over Lorient to move up to second, six points behind leaders Bordeaux.

And Marseille coach Didier Deschamps admitted his primary concern was the freezing conditions forecast for St Etienne on Saturday.

“The number one worry is the physical shape of the players because the risk of injury is high,” said Deschamps. “To play matches in these conditions is more about balance than football.”

Bordeaux look to consolidate their position before the winter break as they host Lorient after their 1-0 win over Montpellier on Wednesday.

Coach Laurent Blanc knows his side were lucky to come away with a win from Montpellier after their success at Lyon the previous week.

“We weren’t good because the match against Lyon left its mark. Certain players hadn’t recovered and weren’t at a technically high level.”

But Blanc is happy with his side’s first half of the season.

“I’d be happy to have a second half of the season like the first,” said Blanc. “We’ve done almost half the work. We have to prepare ourselves because we mustn’t think that it’s going to happen by itself. Nothing is given, we have to go after it.”

Nevertheless Blanc isn’t underestimating his rivals.

“Christian Gourcuff has a well organised team,” said Blanc of his Lorient counterpart. “With few resources they produce beautiful football and players worthy of the highest level.”

Montpellier, sitting third seven points off the place, host 13th-placed Nancy as Valenciennes take on Lens and midtable rivals Rennes and Paris St Germain slug it out in Brittany.

Tailenders Grenoble host Nice as second-from-bottom Boulogne travel to Sochaux.

On Sunday, Lyon vist Monaco as Lille look to get back into the top four against Le Mans and Auxerre host Toulouse.

Saturday (1800GMT unless stated)

Bordeaux v Lorient, Boulogne v Sochaux, Grenoble v Nice, Montpellier v Nancy, Rennes v PSG, Valenciennes v Lens, St Etienne v Marseille (2000GMT)

Sunday (1600GMT unless stated)

Auxerre v Toulouse, Lille v Le Mans, Monaco v Lyon (2000GMT)

PARIS (AFP)

Tags: Alain Perrin, auxerre, Bordeaux, Boulogne, Brittany, Christian Gourcuff, Christophe Galtier, confidence booster, Daw, french football, Germain, glory days, great expectations, Grenoble, laurent blanc, league titles, Lille, Lorient, Lyon, Mans, Marseille, midweek, Monaco, Montpellier, Nancy, PARIS, powerhouses, relegation zone, Rennes, six points, st etienne, Toulouse, winter break

Chamakh dents Lyon title challenge

December 14, 2009

Defending champions Bordeaux moved four points clear at the top of the French league and seriously damaged Lyon’s title challenge with a 1-0 victory over their rivals at the Stade Gerland on Sunday.

An 86th-minute header from Marouane Chamakh was enough to secure all three points for the visitors, who are now eight points above Claude Puel’s side.

A tetchy match only began to open up in the second half, with Fernando fizzing a volley wide for Bordeaux and Maxime Gonalons drawing a good save from Cedric Carrasso with a stinging drive at the other end.

Chamakh then blazed over Lyon’s unguarded goal after being teed up by Brazilian Jussie’s cutback but the Moroccan international made no mistake four minutes from time when he met Yoann Gourcuff’s dinked cross from the right with a firm downward header that Hugo Lloris could not keep out.

Bordeaux move four points clear of surprise package Montpellier at the Ligue 1 summit, with Lyon now well off the pace in ninth place.

Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc praised the gritty nature of team whom he insisted are only beginning to show what they are capable of.

“We knew the difficulties awaiting us. We dominated the second half and I think we deserved to win this match,” he said.

“This team has shown they really want to have a great season and are in full evolution. The group work well together and are ready to meet every challenge. In terms of points we achieved a very nice operation.”

Lyon coach Claude Puel could only rue a missed opportunity.

“It’s not very clever to lose at home against a team who are our direct rivals and leaders,” said Puel.

“Eight points behind, it’s beginning to become important even if it’s not critical. There’s nothing much we can do apart from getting back to work and believing in ourselves.”

A sublime goal by Souleymane Camara had earlier earned Montpellier a 1-0 victory at Toulouse.

Camara struck with a stunning half-volley in the 11th minute of the match at the Stadium Municipal to extend his side’s unbeaten run to four matches and maintain their unanticipated title threat.

“I’m happy to have scored such a nice goal but the three points are what really matter to me,” said Camara.

“We’re in second place tonight but our aim remains to avoid relegation and we’ll see where we finish at the end of the season.”

Lille are now six points off the top in third place after scoring four goals for the fourth successive league game in a 4-0 victory at Monaco, although they have played two games more than the teams either side of them – Montpellier and Marseille.

“We’re in a good moment,” said Lille coach Rudi Garcia.

“The important thing was to do everything in order to win. We put ourselves in danger in the first half. But for our fifth match in 15 days, we were in good shape physically.”

Paris Saint-Germain responded to their 1-0 defeat at Bordeaux last weekend by soundly beating Saint-Etienne 3-0 at the Parc des Princes.

Two goals in the space of two minutes by Peguy Luyindula and Stephane Sessegnon put the hosts 2-0 up inside 13 minutes and Mevlut Erding made sure of the points by converting Christophe Jallet’s free-kick six minutes before the interval.

In the day’s other game, Sochaux climbed away from the relegation zone by beating bottom club Grenoble 1-0.

Marseille finished the weekend in fourth place, level on points with Lille, after defeating Boulogne 2-0 on Saturday, when there were also wins for third-bottom Le Mans, Lens and improving Rennes.

PARIS (AFP)