The 2nd day of Ligue 1 opens this Friday with the trip of Olympique de Marseille to Metz. The following day, PSG will try to obtain their first success of the season in Toulouse while the leaders, Stade Rennais, are expected in Lens on Sunday evening.
[Updated August 18, 2023 at 9:20 a.m.] The second day of Ligue 1 will be marked this weekend by the first trips of Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille. The two clubs did not experience the same success last week since if the Marseillais succeeded in their debut at home in front of Reims (2-1), the Parisians had to settle for a draw in front of Lorient (0-0). OM will visit Metz, promoted to Ligue 1 this summer, on Friday evening (9 p.m.) while PSG will travel to Toulouse the next day (9 p.m.).
Despite their good start to the league, the Olympians will not approach their match in Metz in the best conditions. The elimination from the Champions League play-offs conceded on penalties against the Greek club Panathinaikos on Tuesday evening at the Vélodrome (2-1; 0-1; 3-5 tab) risks trotting in the heads of the Marseillais for some time. Marcelino’s men, who arrived during the offseason, will have every interest in avoiding a misstep on the ground of the Messins who were heavily beaten in Rennes last weekend for their comeback in the elite (5-1).
For Paris, the week was also hectic but once again more behind the scenes than on the ground. The day after the draw against Lorient, Kyllian Mbappe left the Parisian loft and returned to the professional workforce. The top scorer of the last year (29 goals) seems to have reconciled with his leaders even if nothing indicates so far that he will agree to extend his contract with the club of the capital. On the other hand, it could be a huge added value for PSG if it were to be aligned in Toulouse, the pink city where Neymar will not go since the Brazilian striker, who arrived in Paris in 2017, joined Saudi Arabia and the Al-Hilal team this week.
Lyon already backs to the wall
Among the other posters for this second round of the 2023-2024 season, Olympique Lyonnais will already play big on Saturday at the start of the evening in front of Montpellier (the kick-off of the match was postponed from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. due to the heat wave) . Laurent Blanc’s men, unable to score a goal in preparation, were picked cold in Strasbourg on the occasion of their entry into the running (2-1). Already abused by their supporters, the Lyonnais will not have the right to make mistakes against a Montpellier team held in check by Le Havre last Sunday (2-2).
The big poster of the weekend will take place Sunday evening at the end of this second day. It will pit Racing Club de Lens in its den of Bollaert against Stade Rennais. The artesian club, qualified for the Champions League, stumbled upon entering Brest (3-2) and will be keen to redeem themselves. But Stade Rennais, author of a promising recruitment, looks quite formidable this season. The Bretons were very convincing against Metz with a big offensive strike force (5-1). It remains to be seen whether Bruno Génésio will be able to count on Jérémy Doku, scorer last Sunday but announced very close to committing to Manchester City. Finally, note that Monaco, spectacular winner in Clermont in the opening (2-4), and Lille, author of a draw in the snatch in Nice (1-1), will make their debut at home, respectively in front of Strasbourg and Nantes .
The calendar for the new Ligue 1 season was unveiled on Thursday June 29 with 34 dates due to the increase from 20 to 18 clubs. The 1st day took place on the weekend of August 12 and 13, 2023 and the 34th and last will take place on Saturday May 18, 2024 with a multiplex.
Download the Ligue 1 2023/2024 calendar
Discover at the end of each day of the championship, the updated Ligue 1 Uber Eats ranking
For this 2023-2024 season, Amazon Prime has obtained 80% of the TV rights for the French Ligue 1 football championship. The new broadcaster covers 8 matches per day: the Friday evening match (9 p.m.), the Saturday match after – noon (5 p.m.), the Sunday multiplex (3 p.m.), the Sunday evening match (8:45 p.m.) and the Sunday noon meeting (1 p.m.). Amazon has also created a special channel: Pass Ligue 1.
It is Canal which broadcasts the other two matches of each day at the start of the season: the Saturday evening match (9 p.m.) and the Sunday match at 5 p.m.
