Marseille magic, Monaco miss and Nice is nowhere

Their victory under Didier Deschamps, coupled with their Coupe de la Ligue (League Cup) triumph at the end of March against Bordeaux, well and truly ends a 17 year trophy drought for this club. Deschamps fans will remember that it was he who steered AS Monaco to that mythical UEFA Championship final way back in 2004, beating mighty Real Madrid and Chelsea on their way (they lost to Porto in the final).

Elsewhere in the last ten days, AS Monaco were finally overcome in their Coupe de France (French Cup) final on 1st May by Paris Saint-Germain but they did not go down without a fight, losing in extra time by one vital goal to the Parisians. On Saturday Guy Lacombe’s Red and Whites went on to beat Nancy 2-1 at home in the Louis II Stadium in the league, and with two away matches still to play they have a good chance of finishing seventh. That would represent their best result since 2007 when they managed ninth.

As for OG Nice, they are ending a disastrous season on a high having clawed their way back up to 15th from near-relegation. They drew 2-2 with ninth placed Rennes at the weekend. Expect lots of changes next season including a new coach. CL