The 20-year-old is a ‘complete’ player who combines Marcel Desailly’s defensive ability with Laurent Blanc’s creativity

By Get French Football News

When you miss 18 months of football, there is a natural eagerness to make up for lost time. Jérémy Jacquet has certainly done that. This time last year Rennes recalled him from a loan spell at Ligue 2 side Clermont Foot and now he has been signed by Liverpool for £60m.

The conditions were always ripe for Jacquet to succeed at Rennes, a club known for developing talent. But even by their standards, the 2005 generation is something special. Désiré Doué, Mathys Tel, Jeanuël Belocian, Lesley Ugochukwu and, come the summer, Jacquet will have all left Rennes, but not before pushing each other to greater heights during their formative years.

OL had to sell star players to avoid relegation but they are thriving in Ligue 1 and the Europa League

By Get French Football News

When Lyon were spared from administrative relegation to Ligue 2 on appeal over the summer, the overriding feeling was one of relief. During John Textor’s time as owner, the atmosphere became toxic, with fans turning on the directors. More importantly, the American ran Lyon into the ground, with the club registering losses of more than €200m in his final season in charge. Michele Kang came in as president and a place in Ligue 1 was secured but, as thoughts turned to the future last summer, fans must have felt uncertain and even trepidatious.

Lyon’s place in the top flight was guaranteed by providing assurances to the DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog, that the club would sell players and reduce their wage bill. The stripping of the club’s most prized assets had already begun earlier in the summer when Rayan Cherki left to join Manchester City. Georges Mikautadze and Lucas Perri would also depart, both bringing in considerable sums; Nemanja Matic, one of the highest-paid players on the wage bill, was released; and Alexandre Lacazette’s deal expired.

• Kane scores 36th goal of season in leaders’ 2-2 draw

• Rashford caps Barcelona’s 3-1 victory to extend lead

Harry Kane scored his 36th goal of the season but Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich let a second-half lead slip to draw 2-2 at Hamburg.

Fábio Vieira put Hamburg in front from the penalty spot then Kane levelled before half-time. The substitute Luis Díaz put the visitors ahead within a minute of the restart, but Luka Vuskovic kept up his good scoring form to earn what could be a precious point for the struggling hosts.

• Three second-half goals put Barça back on top

• Juventus beat Napoli to leave title challenge in tatters

Barcelona capitalised on two defensive mistakes by bottom-of-the-table Real Oviedo to seal a 3-0 victory at a rain-drenched Camp Nou, regaining top spot in La Liga. Goals from Dani Olmo, Raphinha and, acrobatically, Lamine Yamal powered the Catalan club to 52 points, one ahead of Real Madrid, while Atlético Madrid trail in third on 44.

Barça struggled to break the deadlock against a spirited Oviedo until they finally found the breakthrough in the 52nd minute, with Olmo striking home following a defensive lapse. Five minutes later, Oviedo’s struggles deepened, with the defender David Costas under-hitting a back-pass, which Raphinha intercepted before calmly chipping the onrushing Aarón Escandell in Oviedo’s goal to double Barcelona’s lead. Lamine Yamal wrapped up Barça’s win by scoring in the 73rd minute with a brilliant acrobatic volley from an Olmo cross.

• Massengo and Chaves strike late in Bavarian derby

• Mbappé sends Real Madrid top; Nwaneri scores on debut

Strugglers Augsburg scored twice in six minutes late in the second half to come from a goal down and stun hosts Bayern Munich 2-1 in the Bavarian derby on Saturday, the league leaders’ first Bundesliga loss of the season.

The hosts, fresh from securing a Champions League knockout spot with Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Union Saint-Gilloise, took a 23rd-minute lead thanks to Hiroki Ito’s header but lacked any spark up front as Augsburg struck in the 75th and 81st minutes through Arthur Chaves and Han-Noah Massengo to earn their first win in Munich for 11 years.

• Inter recover from 2-0 down to go six clear in Serie A

• In Ligue 1, PSG go above Lens, who play on Saturday

Inter were shocked to go two goals down at home to relegation-battling Pisa but fought back to earn a 6-2 win at San Siro on Friday, as they continue to set the pace at the top of Serie A.

Stefano Moreo scored twice to put Pisa 2-0 up, the first thanks to a howler from the goalkeeper Yann Sommer, but Inter were ahead by the break. Piotr Zielinski converted a penalty and Lautaro Martínez and Francesco Pio Esposito both scored with headers in six minutes just before half-time.

Monaco have lost seven of their last eight league games. Next up they visit Real Madrid in the Champions League

By Get French Football News

“We are trying to anticipate things that could maybe not be in a good place soon,” said Monaco CEO, Thiago Scuro, when he sacked manager Adi Hütter and replaced him with Sébastien Pocognoli in October. The change did not save the club from the bad place they had feared. Perhaps Hütter wasn’t the problem, perhaps Pocognoli isn’t the problem either; that is certainly the view of the club’s fans.

The Stade Louis II was sparsely populated on Friday night for the visit of Lorient in Ligue 1. The Monaco ultras boycotted the first 45 minutes entirely, creating a tepid atmosphere. Every noise was accentuated, from the home fans’ ironic cries of “olé” as Lorient toyed with Monaco in the dying stages of their 3-1 win, to the celebrations of the 32 travelling fans who savoured their team’s first away victory of the season, and the calls for Scuro’s resignation.

• Raúl Asencio also on target in 2-0 win over Levante

• Harry Kane scores in Bayern’s 5-1 win at RB Leipzig

Real Madrid ended a turbulent week with a much-needed 2-0 win against Levante, courtesy of second-half goals from Kylian Mbappé and Raúl Asencio, after being booed by a restless Bernabéu crowd before the breakthrough arrived.

Real looked flat in the first half, still carrying the scars of Sunday’s 3-2 defeat by Barcelona in the final of the Supercopa de España, followed by the departure of Xabi Alonso as manager the next day and a shock 3-2 Copa del Rey exit to second-division Albacete on Wednesday.

In a weekend where most favourites triumphed, Paris FC beating the holders was a welcome win for the underdogs

By Get French Football News

This year’s Coupe de France was in need of a spark and Paris FC were on hand to provide it. Their league match against Paris Saint-Germain last weekend – the first derby between the clubs in 43 years – was somewhat anticlimactic. The rivalry between is tepid, bordering on amicable, and the difference in quality was stark as PSG ran out fairly comfortable 2-1 winners. Stéphane Gilli’s men are a long way off challenging the reigning European champions over a full season but, on Monday night, that was irrelevant. Paris FC returned to the Parc des Princes and won 1-0, progressing to the last 16 of the Coupe de France at their neighbour’s expense.

It was a derby once again lacking in derby feel. Jonathan Ikoné scored the winner but did not celebrate against the club from whose academy he graduated. Luis Enrique even wished Paris FC “all the best for the rest of the competition” after the match – all very cordial. The PSG manager was left ruing his side’s wastefulness as he succumbed to his first defeat in the competition since arriving in France in 2023. As far as the cup is concerned, though, PSG’s slip-up was a welcome one.

The 41-year-old is at home with young players and, crucially, he is familiar with the demands of Chelsea’s owners

By Get French Football News

Liam Rosenior looks up at the towering Strasbourg Kop. He shouts and pleads as he points to his players, demanding the fans applaud them. Met with hostility, boos and jeers in the stands, he cuts a lone figure, one at pains to sow unity at a divided club. Strasbourg had just won the game, beating Le Havre 1-0 earlier this season, but the club’s fans were in no mood to celebrate.

Behind an image are a thousand words, or three banners in this case. One called for the club president Marc Keller to leave Strasbourg; another criticised the bizarre Ishé Samuels-Smith back-and-forth transfer; and the one to which Rosenior took particular exception concerned his captain, Emmanuel Emegha. It read: “Emegha, pawn of BlueCo, after changing shirts, hand back your armband.” Emegha had agreed a deal to join Chelsea a few days earlier, once again confirming to Strasbourg fans that they were subservient to “big brother” Chelsea in the multi-club hierarchy.

Paris FC put up a good fight at the Parc des Princes on Sunday but this derby does not yet feel like a rivalry

By Get French Football News

The first of two Paris derbies in the space of eight days gave Paris Saint-Germain a chance to make a statement against their upstart neighbours. The tifo display in the Parc des Princes – which read “Paris c’est nous” – could be read as both a nod to the clubs’ shared history and a reminder of the one-sided nature of the derby.

For a few years, they were the same club. Paris Saint-Germain are the result of a merger between Stade Saint-Germain and Paris FC in 1970, which the latter split from a few years later. PSG were soon winning trophies but Paris FC went through decades of obscurity before emerging as Ligue 2 regulars in the years before they were taken over by the Arnault family and Red Bull.

• Striker steps in for injured Mbappé in 5-1 victory

• Paris Saint-Germain beat city rivals Paris FC 2-1

Gonzalo García bagged a hat-trick to lead Real Madrid to a 5-1 victory over Real Betis at the Bernabéu on Sunday, cutting Barcelona’s La Liga lead back to four points.

The 21-year-old forward, who scored four goals at last summer’s Club World Cup, stepped up in the absence of La Liga’s top scorer, Kylian Mbappé, sidelined by a knee injury. García was left unmarked at the far post to head in Rodrygo’s precise cross for a deserved 20th-minute lead.

• Dazn must resume €6.6m-a-month payments

• It said agreement was not viable without carriage deal

Dazn has been ordered to honour the remainder of an €84.2m (£73.5m) TV deal with Belgium’s Pro League this season after the streaming service announced last month it was terminating the contract.

In a judgment from Belgium’s centre for arbitration and mediation (Cepani), sent to the clubs on Wednesday morning, Dazn has been told it must continue broadcasting and paying for the Pro League until 30 June, unless Cepani declares otherwise. That would cost it about €53m.

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The Monaco player discusses his father, the midfielders he copies and whether he could join the Premier League

By Get French Football News

As I enter the room, Lamine Camara picks up a football that he won’t let go of until after the interview. It’s a simple visual metaphor for a dream he has never let slip. “I only wanted football; I was focused solely on that,” says the Monaco and Senegal midfielder. His determination and talent convinced Génération Foot, Metz and Monaco to sign him. Although the hardest person to convince was not a sporting director or manager, but his own father.

“He didn’t want me to play football but it’s because he hadn’t seen me play,” says Camara. “He didn’t know anything about football but people came up to him and said: ‘Your son knows how to play. You have to help him.’” Eventually, on “one beautiful day”, Camara earned his father’s blessing and pursued a career in the game. His small stature was another hurdle and it deterred local club Casa Sports from handing him a contract.

• Dispute related to contract before exit for Real Madrid

• Court sided with player amid accusations of betrayal

A Paris labour court has ruled Paris Saint-Germain must pay more than €60m (£52.7m) to Kylian Mbappé in a dispute over unpaid wages and bonuses linked to the end of his contract before his 2024 move to Real Madrid.

Lawyers argued last month before the Conseil de prud’hommes. The court sided with the player amid accusations of betrayal and harassment surrounding the breakdown of their relationship. PSG had been seeking €440m from Mbappé, citing damages and a “loss of opportunity” after he left on a free transfer. It is understood PSG are likely to appeal.

Ineos-owned club must pick up the pieces as hundreds of supporters hit and spit on players after sixth straight loss

By Get French Football News

Football is often lauded for its capacity to bring people together but in Nice, it has also laid bare its capacity to tear a city apart.

It’s a Sunday night, and the Nice players and staff have just landed back in the Côte d’Azur after another defeat, their sixth in succession in all competitions. It wasn’t just the loss but the manner of it, and who it came against. “We lost at Lorient, a team that should be relegated. We’re rubbish, we know it,” said a visibly-emotional Sofiane Diop as the midfielder pleaded with the travelling fans after the 3-1 defeat on 30 November.

• Rodrygo keeps Real within four points of Barça at top

• Inter win 2-1 at Genoa, as Milan draw and Napoli lose

Rodrygo secured a crucial 2-1 victory for Real Madrid at Alavés in La Liga, ending a dismal run of form and keeping them within four points of the leaders, Barcelona.

Real, under pressure after two successive defeats in all competitions, broke the deadlock through Kylian Mbappé’s stunning first-half strike. However, a resilient Alavés levelled in the 68th minute through Carlos Vicente. The visitors restored their lead eight minutes later, courtesy of a counterattack led by Vinícius Júnior, whose assist was converted by Rodrygo.

• Pair verbally and physically abused as they left team bus

• Nice to await police report before deciding on response

The Nice players Terem Moffi and Jérémie Boga have been placed on sick leave after the team were confronted by supporters upon their return from a 3-1 defeat at Lorient.

Moffi was given a week’s leave and Boga five days, both effective from Monday, after an estimated 400 fans gathered outside the club’s training centre on Sunday night. The pair were verbally and physically abused as they left the team bus after the travelling party was swamped by ultras unhappy at a sixth consecutive loss in all competitions. The club’s sporting director, Florian Maurice, was also among those targeted.

Luis Enrique was scathing after PSG’s ‘worst match of the season’ but Marseille are too flaky to make them pay

By Get French Football News

Paris Saint-Germain were flat and lethargic in their 1-0 defeat to Monaco on Saturday afternoon. Luis Enrique called it their “worst match of the season” and “a very bad night”. His players created very little, although it might have been a very different story had the Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara been sent off for his lunge on Lucas Chevalier early in the first half. The France international said his “career could have taken a turn” and that he considered himself “lucky” to continue after the tackle that was sanctioned with a yellow, rather than a red.

Takumi Minamino gave Monaco the lead midway through the second half before they did go down to 10 men, Thilo Kehrer receiving a red card in the 80th minute, but PSG failed to create any clear openings. It felt like a simple off night, even if the lack of goals from their forwards remains a cause for concern. The result gave Marseille the chance to land a psychological blow.