Ici, c’est Paris ... to concede five goals

What could be worse than conceding five goals? Probably having both your men’s and women’s team concede five goals over the same weekend.

Oh yes, it was a weekend to forget for Paris Saint-Germain fans. But before the men’s team caught the media attention for losing 5-1 to LOSC – they remain one win from the Ligue 1 title – the women suffered a similar defeat away to Olympique Lyonnais with wider implications in the title race.

If you’re not overly familiar with Division 1 Féminine, the easiest analogy to latch onto is Lyon are the blushing brides and PSG are the silverware-less bridesmaid. Try as they might, Les Parisiennes have yet to take tearful walk down the aisle and proclaim, “Je fais!”.

In fact, the last league title PSG won was in 2000-01 when they finished as champions of Division 2; it then took the club from the French capital ten further seasons to win their second trophy; the Challenge de France (now the Coupe de France). In the following season (2010-11), PSG finally finished second to secure Champions League football, although they still finished 14 points* adrift of the Invincible Lyon. In the ensuing seven seasons, PSG have been as close as three points (2015-16) and as far as 14 points (2016-17) behind Lyon.

The pair have tangled numerous times over the years, in the league, cup and Champions League. The 2016-17 UWCL final in Cardiff was one of the most bitter defeats felt by the club from Paris.

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

Tied for points (53) going into the match on Saturday, PSG could have leapfrogged their southern rivals with a win (and all but claimed their first ever French title). Lyon had dropped two points to seventh placed Fleury 91 in their last league outing and Les Parisiennes would have been salivating at the chance of bagging a win at the Parc OL (their previous meeting this season a 1-1 in Paris).

However, there was to be no shock win for the bridesmaids, no chance of standing up partway through the service and proclaiming that they objected to the union of Lyon and another damn trophy. Lyon, in typical Lyon fashion, had PSG on their backs in no time, the lead claimed by Ada Hegerberg in the eighth minute and not relinquished. A record crowd of 25,907 bearing witness to the chasm between Lyon and their nearest rivals.

The match finished a sobering 5-0 and although PSG could still mathematically lift the shapely D1F trophy, it looks about as likely as seeing a yellow card in NWSL. For Les Parisiennes, there is always next year because at some point, Lyon have to relinquish their stranglehold on the French league… non?

*Until the 2016-17 season, Division 1 Féminine had its own points system (4pt for a win, 2pts for a draw and 1pt for a loss – it made the end of season table look hella weird).