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Paris Saint-Germain will be crowned Ligue 1 champions following the cancellation of the 2019-20 season, Goal can confirm, with Lyon missing out on a spot in the Champions League for the first time since 1997.
Earlier this month, the LFP (Ligue de Football Professionnel) outlined plans to restart the campaign in June with lockdown measures in France set to be lifted on May 11.
However, French prime minister Edouard Philippe insisted that such a scenario was impossible during a national assembly on Tuesday, while revealing that no sporting events will be allowed to take place until September at the earliest.
The announcement left several teams in Ligue 1 awaiting their fates regarding final positions, with PSG sitting 12 points clear at the top of the table having played a game less than second-placed Marseille.
And, following a vote over how the league standings should be decided, the LFP will now confirm later on Thursday that Thomas Tuchel’s men are champions of France for a third successive year, while seventh-placed Lyon have failed to qualify for Europe’s premier club competition.
The classification has been established based on current points and matches played, meaning Marseille and Rennes have earned a place in the Champions League.
Elsewhere, Lille, Reims and Nice are set to book spots in the Europa League should, as expected, the French Cup and League Cup are cancelled, with Amiens and Toulouse relegated to Ligue 2 after being cut adrift at the bottom of the standings. Lorient and Lens will be promoted from Ligue 2.
France have followed the example of Belgium’s Jupiler Pro League and the Netherlands’ Eredivisie by calling off the season, and it has been suggested that the rest of Europe’s major leagues will take the same drastic steps in the coming weeks.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and general secretary Theodore Theodoridis have set a deadline for the leagues in question to submit their plans for restarting the season, having previously made it clear that their main goal is to see all schedules completed by August.
A statement from European football’s governing body said: “National Associations and/or Leagues should be in a position to communicate to UEFA by May 25, 2020, the planned restart of their domestic competitions – including the date of restart and the competition format.”
Bundesliga officials are working towards a May 9 restart, with matches set to be played behind closed doors in Germany, while La Liga clubs have been cleared to return to training on May 4 – a similar approach followed by Serie A.
Meanwhile, Premier League club executives are due to meet on Friday to discuss how best to move forward in England, as the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths continues to rise across Europe.
