Monaco lost ground in the race for the 2025 Ligue 1 title on Friday night following a 2-1 defeat at foot-of-the-table Montpellier. The setback left them in fourth place with 31 points after 18 games – 12 points behind pacesetters Paris Saint-Germain who play at Lens on Saturday afternoon.

Both Monaco and PSG will feature in the Champions League next week, the fourth game for each club during a punishing January schedule of six games in 19 and 17 days respectively.

In the fixtures played so far, PSG have fared better.

Monaco started their travails on 10 January with a 2-2 draw at Nantes in Ligue 1. They lost their last-32 Coupe de France tie against Reims four days later.

And they went down to Montpellier after taking the lead in the first-half through Thilo Kehrer. But the hosts hit back with a brace from the Jordan international Mousa al-Tamaari.

After beating Monaco 1-0 on 5 January in Doha to claim the 2025 French Super Cup, PSG resumed their Ligue 1 campaign with a 2-1 win over Saint-Etienne on 12 January to restore their seven-point advantage over Marseille at the top of Ligue 1.

Three days later, goals in the last five minutes from Bradley Barcola and Gonçalo Ramos gave them a 4-2 win in the Coupe de France to spare their blushes against fifth tier Espaly and continue the defence of their crown.

But this year in the reconfigured competition, they have struggled.

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