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EURO BITES: Ligue 1 - Sagnol and Fournier under pressure, 16-year-old stars on debut, and French football still without away fans

Jonathan Johnson rounds up the weekend action in Ligue 1 as Paris Saint-Germain show no signs of stopping and two managers feel the pressure.

SAGNOL AND FOURNIER FEELING THE HEAT

After the departures of Marcelo Bielsa at Olympique de Marseille and Herve Renard at Lille OSC, Girondins de Bordeaux’s Willy Sagnol or Olympique Lyonnais’ Hubert Fournier could be next to be out of a job in Ligue 1.

Former France international Sagnol saw his team get thrashed 4-1 at home by an impressive Stade Malherbe Caen side on Sunday, just days after Liverpool ended their UEFA Europa League hopes with a 2-1 win at Anfield.

Bordeaux have won just two of their last seven Ligue 1 matches and the six-time French champions are 14th in Le Championnat and just six points above 19th placed Toulouse.

As for Fournier and Lyon, Les Gones were ripped apart 4-2 at Stade Gerland by Montpellier HSC on Friday and the result came just days after OL were also knocked out of European competition altogether by a 2-1 home defeat to KAA Gent.

Lyon have now lost four of their last five games across all competitions and Fournier, like Sagnol, is unlikely to be in place come the winter break if current form is not rectified.

MARSEILLE-MONACO THRILLER A GREAT ADVERT FOR LIGUE 1

Sunday night’s box-office Ligue 1 clash lived up to the billing, as Marseille and AS Monaco played out a thrilling 3-3 draw at Stade Velodrome. The result helped neither side in an immediate sense, but it made for entertaining viewing in a great advert for Le Championnat.

Romain Alessandrini gave OM the lead, but Almamy Toure quickly equalised for Les Monegasques and then put them 2-1 ahead before half-time.

Michy Batshuayi equalised for the hosts early in the second half, before Fabio Coentrao put Leonardo Jardim’s men in front once again before Georges-Kevin Nkoudou snatched a late draw for Michel’s side.

LEADERS PSG REMAIN STREETS AHEAD AFTER TROYES WIN

Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain maintained their 13-point at the summit of Le Championnat thanks to a 4-1 win at home to winless ESTAC Troyes on Saturday.

On an emotional day in the capital, the French champions’ first match at Parc des Princes since the recent Paris terror attacks, Edinson Cavani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (penalty), Layvin Kurzawa and Jean-Kevin Augustin scored for Laurent Blanc’s men.

It was a good week for PSG, after a 5-0 win away at Malmo FF secured safe passage to the latter stages of the UEFA Champions League and captain Thiago Silva declared to L'Equipe that he would like to finish his career in the French capital.

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi admitted after the win in Malmo that Ibrahimovic’s contractual situation (expiring at the end of the season) will be looked at as well.

The Sweden international’s goal against Troyes was his 85th in Ligue 1, making him the capital club’s joint-top scorer alongside Mustapha Dahleb in the league.

ALBAN LAFONT DEBUTS AS TOULOUSE FINALLY WIN

Toulouse won for the first time since the opening day of the season, beating high-flying OGC Nice 2-0 at Stadium Municipal on Saturday.

A Martin Braithwaite penalty and a goal from Wissam Ben Yedder helped Dominique Arribage’s men to only their second Ligue 1 victory of the season.

However, making the headlines for TFC was goalkeeper Alban Lafont. Arribage handed the 16-year-old his Ligue 1 debut and the teenager kept a clean sheet as Les Aiglons were held at bay in the Pink City.

At 16 years and 10 months old, Lafont is the youngest goalkeeper to have started a Ligue 1 match over the last 25 years.

CAEN AND ANGERS DOING THEIR BEST TO KEEP UP WITH PSG

Although PSG remain well clear of the chasing pack in Ligue 1, surprise packages Angers SCO and Caen are at least doing their best to keep the juggernaut from the capital in their sights.

Le SCO won 2-0 at home to Frederic Antonetti’s Lille to make it a miserable debut for Les Dogues’ new coach, while Caen ripped Bordeaux apart 4-1 at Matmut Atlantique.

Angers welcome PSG to Stade Jean Bouin on Tuesday, while Caen will also host the Ligue 1 leaders before the winter break.

STILL NO TRAVELLING FANS IN FRANCE

Because of France’s current state of emergency and the subsequent lack of available security forces in the country, authorities in France have extended an order that prohibits away supporters from attending matches in the country.

As France recovers from the recent Paris terror attacks, the French Football League has confirmed that the measure will be implemented for all Ligue 1, Champions League, Europa League and domestic cup fixtures until at least mid-December.