LFP to Crown PSG Ligue 1 Champions for 19/20 Season

By Adedapo Adesanya

The French league (LFP) is set to declare Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (PSG) champions of the Ligue 1 for 2019/2020 season despite the inability of clubs in the division to complete the season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

France’s top-flight season was cancelled on Tuesday, following the French government announcing that activities can’t return till September.

But reports on Thursday from French media stated that PSG have been awarded the title for the 2019-20 campaign.

The Ligue 1 defending champions played their last game before the suspension in early March and they were 12 points clear of second-placed Marseille with a game in hand.

As a result of this, Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille and Rennes are set to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League, while Lille, Reims and Nice will be awarded UEFA Europa League spots.

At the bottom, meanwhile, the finalised table based on a points/match ratio show that Amiens and Toulouse, who look set to be relegated to Ligue 2 despite still having 10 matches to play will be relegated.

This is good news for Ligue 2 clubs, FC Lorient and RC Lens, who would now be promoted into Ligue 1 for the 2020-21 season.

The 18th placed team, Nimes, although in the relegation zone, appear to keep their place in the top flight, given there will be no Ligue 2 play-offs and a chance for a third team to earn promotion from the second tier.

Elsewhere in Europe, the Bundesliga in Germany has announced plans to return to action on May 9 behind closed doors.

Last week, Business Post reported that the Eredivisie in the Netherlands has been cancelled with major events in Holland banned until September due to the coronavirus outbreak.