NICE: Paris St-Germain beat 10-man OGC Nice 2-1 away in Ligue 1 on Wednesday, leaving the hosts with no chance of a top-four finish.

PSG, who have already clinched the title and are preparing for the Coupe de France final on May 25, have 73 points, while Nice are fifth on 54 points.

With one match remaining, they are four points behind fourth-placed Brest, ensuring they cannot qualify for the Champions League.

Mbappe, who will leave PSG when his contract expires at the end of the season, sat out the trip due to discomfort in his left hamstring, while Ousmane Dembele, Achraf Hakimi and Randal Kolo Muani were also missing.

Bradley Barcola opened the scoring for Luis Enrique’s side in the 18th minute and Yoram Zague added a second five minutes later.

Nice managed to get on the scoreboard before the break through Mohamed-Ali Cho who was played in by Jeremie Boga.

However, their hopes of an equaliser were hit when Melvin Bard was sent off in the 75th minute for a foul on Barcola.

Nice are now guaranteed to finish fifth and will go into next season’s Europa League group stage.

Meanwhile, Olympique de Marseille risk missing out on Europe altogether after a 1-0 loss at managerless Reims.Chancel Mbemba’s own goal in the first half condemned Marseille to defeat and left them three points behind RC Lens and Olympique Lyonnais in the race for a Europa Conference League place.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2024