The final gameweek of 2025 in Ligue 1 McDonald’s is upon us after yet another busy week of European action. It will see action at the top of the table as Marseille face-off Monaco at the Stade Vélodrome, whilst PSG will make the trip to the Lorraine region to face Metz. Leaders Lens face a struggling Nice outfit, whilst a Breton derby awaits between Stade Brestois and Stade Rennais on Saturday.
Marseille looking to bounce back
Sunday evening’s action will see the final Ligue 1 McDonald’s clash of 2025 take place between two sides that are looking to re-kick their ambitions at the top of the table. In the space of two weeks, Marseille stumbled twice in their domestic ambitions to take top spot in the table with a draw against Toulouse (2-2) and loss against Lille (0-1), with Lens taking advantage in both cases to take top spot from Paris Saint-Germain.
“We need to move on from the Champions League,” said De Zerbi in his pre-match press conference. We need to focus now 100% on Ligue 1. At Lille we played really badly.”
OM will be able to maintain their top-three standing if they are victorious against Les Monégasques on Sunday evening. Roberto De Zerbi‘s men now find themselves five points below league leaders Lens as they look to bounce back to cap-off the year.
“It will be a very difficult match for us, we know the kind of team that Monaco are,” said goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli during his pre-match media duties.” The difference will be the Vélodrome in terms of our energy.. It will be the last match of 2025 so we want to finish the year well.”
Monaco looking for consistency
AS Monaco have also struggled in the winter months of 2025 to find consistency, and have not won in consecutive matches in the league since October under Sébastien Pocognoli. ASM currently hang on the outer European places in the Ligue 1 McDonald’s table, with one point separating them and Lyon in the current Europa League qualifying spots.
Pocognoli’s men will however have been buoyed by a Champions League win over Galatasaray in the week, as they hope to bounce back from a defeat to Brest (1-0) last weekend. Eric Dier looks set to return to action for the away side, with Paul Pogba also looking to be involved after not facing Galatasaray.
Two teams, two opposite trajectories
Racing Club de Lens will be looking to keep their spot at the top of the Ligue 1 McDonald’s and pile further misery on OGC Nice, who were eliminated out of Europe this week with a defeat to Portuguese side Braga.
The side from Northern France are on a five-match winning run in Ligue 1 McDonald’s, after suffering just one defeat in their previous 11 outings. They have the chance this weekend to make it seven matches won in succession for the first time since 2023. Things couldn’t look much more different for OGC Nice at the minute, as former Lens manager Franck Haise visits his former side in a horrific vein of form of six straight defeats.
Metz welcome PSG
Stéphane Le Mignan‘s Metz will be welcoming Paris Saint-Germain as their pre-Christmas clash, with Luis Enrique’s men hoping to claw back top spot with Lens facing Nice the same day. After an initial resurgence several weeks ago, Les Grenats now find themselves as the basement club in the Ligue 1 McDonald’s table.
PSG meanwhile face the prospect of losing their pre-Christmas crown at the top of the Ligue 1 table over the festive period, with RC Lens posing a serious challenge to their title ambitions over recent weeks. Les Parisiens reacted to a loss against Monaco (1-0) with two consecutive wins, without conceding a single goal. Yet Luis Enrique has had to think about his goalkeeping situation recently.
“Lucas (Chevalier) had a minor injury, but he’s back and trained as usual today. In this situation, we saw another player who hadn’t played since the start of the season. Safonov showed his skill, and we’re very happy to see the players ready at all times. He has demonstrated his professionalism and personality. I’m very happy that we have three top goalkeepers.”
An all-Breton clash
Stade Rennais will host fellow Breton side Stade Brestois at Rohazon Park to cap-off their respective 2025’s with an all-Celtic clash. Habib Beye and the hosts will be looking to bounce back from last weekend’s heavy defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, whilst Brest will be looking to close the gap on their hosts to just two points.
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