French monuments in trouble while PSG prepare for UCL final

PSG beat Arsenal in their semi-final on Wednesday to set up a final at the end of May in Munich against Inter Milan, the second in their history after a defeat by Bayern Munich in 2020.

It will be the eighth time that a French side has appeared in the final of Europe's elite club competition, with Marseille in 1993 still the only team from the country to have won the trophy.

Saint-Etienne were beaten finalists in 1976, when they lost 1-0 to Franz Beckenbauer's Bayern in Glasgow. Almost half a century later, they stand on the brink of being relegated to Ligue 2, just a year after coming back up and then being bought by Canadian billionaire Larry Tanenbaum.

With two games of the season remaining they sit in the automatic relegation places, above only a Montpellier side who are already down.

Les Verts, whose tally of 10 French titles is bettered only by PSG on 13, are four points adrift of Le Havre in the relegation play-off spot and five away from outright safety.

That means a defeat away to Reims on Saturday will send them down, while a draw will effectively mean relegation too due to their poor goal difference. However, a win will keep their hopes alive going into the last day, provided they also get some favours from elsewhere.

"The whole season has been a struggle and a fight for our lives. There is nothing new about that," said Saint-Etienne's Norwegian coach, Eirik Horneland. "We cannot wait for others anymore. We have to help ourselves. We need two victories to stay in the league."

Saint-Etienne's great rivals Lyon are seventh with two games to play, their hopes of Champions League qualification were dealt a huge blow when they lost 2-1 to Lens last weekend.

Lyon appointed Paulo Fonseca as coach at the end of January in the belief that he could take the seven-time French champions back to Europe's top table.

However, they were three points off the top four then and they still are now, meaning it appears a first Champions League campaign since they got to the semi-finals in 2020 is probably beyond them.

Saturday's trip to third-placed Monaco is a game they simply must win, with the consequences of failing to reach the Champions League potentially disastrous for Lyon.

The club owned by the American John Textor's Eagle Football Group have huge debts and were warned earlier this season by the French footballing authorities that they would be relegated if drastic action was not taken to reduce their liabilities.

"We need to win our last two games and then see where that leaves us," Fonseca said this week. "It is six years since the club qualified for the Champions League so this is important. I want to be the coach who takes OL (Lyon) back there. It will be hard but it is possible."

Fixtures on Saturday (kick-offs 19.00 GMT)

Angers v Strasbourg, Auxerre v Nantes, Brest v Lille, Le Havre v Marseille, Monaco v Lyon, Montpellier v Paris Saint-Germain, Reims v Saint-Etienne, Rennes v Nice, Toulouse v Lens