France Ligue 1

LENS defender Facundo Medina has apologised to Kylian Mbappe after claiming he would put the Paris Saint-Germain star in an ambulance.Second-place Lens travel to the Parc des Princes on Saturday to take on Ligue 1 leaders PSG.
Lens defender Facundo Medina has apologised to Kylian MbappeCredit: Getty
Paris Saint-Germain’s Mbappe will come up against Lens on SaturdayCredit: Getty
And centre-back Medina raised eyebrows on Twitch when talking about Lionel Messi and, in particular, Mbappe.
Firstly discussing Messi, he said: “If he dribbles past me and gets away, I’d come to him to embrace him and ask for a hug.”
But things then took a turn when he discussed how he prepared to respond to Mbappe.
Speaking about the Frenchman, he added: “He’s hard to mark as well, but you know me. If Mbappe goes past me, an ambulance would need to pick him up.”
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Medina, who started in Lens’ 3-1 win over PSG in January, quickly realised he had overstepped the mark with his comments and has now backtracked.
Speaking on Instagram, he said: “I would never act this way towards a fellow professional, even less towards one I respect, because it doesn’t reflect the values I carry as a man and as a professional.”
Lens will reduce the gap at the top of the table to just three points with a win this weekend.
PSG have lost three of their last five games in all competitions.
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By contrast, Lens come into the clash off the back of four successive league wins.
But PSG remain in pole position to clinch a ninth league title in 11 seasons.
Mbappe has scored 31 goals in 35 club appearances in the 2022/23 campaign.
However, the club’s stellar trio of Mbappe, Messi and Neymar failed to help them past Bayern Munich in the Champions League last-16.
Christophe Galtier’s side went down 3-0 on aggregate as PSG’s wait for a first European crown goes on. More

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN have launched an investigation into their own manager Christophe Galtier regarding alleged claims of racism.The accusations date back to Galtier’s time managing fellow Ligue 1 side OGC Nice last season.
Christophe Galtier is being investigated by Paris Saint-GermainCredit: Getty
Within an email revealed by French football reporter Romain Molina last night, Nice’s former director of football Julien Fournier made allegations against Galtier.
The report claims that Fournier accused the 56-year-old of saying his team had “too many black and Muslim players”.
Further reporting by Nice-Matin claims that Galtier asked his Muslim players not to observe Ramadan.
While he is also alleged to have turned down a potential transfer due to the player’s religion.
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In response to allegations surrounding Galtier, his current employers PSG, who are claimed to have had no prior knowledge of these allegations while hiring him, have begun an internal investigation of their own.
The Ligue 1 champions are determined to ensure that they handle the situation in a manner that avoids potential legal issues with Galtier down the road.
PSG are next in action against RC Lens at Parc des Princes this Saturday.
And Galtier is expected to take his pre-match press conference on Friday as usual.
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PSG beat Nice 2-0 last Saturday courtesy of goals by Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos.
After the match, Galtier sarcastically applauded fans of his former club after they unfurled a banner allegedly insulting his 83-year-old mother.
According to Get French Football News, Galtier was confronted by Nice stars Khephren Thuram and Jean-Clair Todibo after the incident.
The PSG manager has been under pressure in recent weeks due to results on the pitch.
His side were dumped out of the Champions League in meek fashion at the round of 16 stage 3-0 by Bayern Munich.
While surprise packages RC Lens have moved within six points of them in the title race after PSG’s recent back-to-back defeats against Rennes and Lyon.
Galtier ‘was confronted’ by Nice stars last weekendCredit: Getty More

ADIL RAMI has admitted he “doesn’t give a damn” if his team Troyes are relegated.The former France defender joined Troyes in 2021 and is nearing the end of his playing career.
Adil Rami blasted his team-mates after his side’s defeat on SundayCredit: https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/12ikyr1/troyes_captain_adil_rami_on_his_teams_relegation/
Troyes were beaten 2-0 at home by Clermont FootCredit: AFP
Their 2-0 home defeat to Clermont Foot on Sunday pushed them closer towards the drop in what is a fierce Ligue 1 relegation battle, with four teams going down rather than the usual three.
After the match, Troyes skipper Rami faced up to the Amazon Prime Video cameras, with his side having fallen seven points adrift of safety with eight games remaining.
The veteran blasted: “I don’t give a damn, I am 37-years-old and my career is done.”
On his team-mates, he added: “I don’t know if I’m sad for some players who are giving up on their careers.
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“They will have to question themselves. The mentality is not good, and the defeat was logical.”
On his side’s constant errors, he lamented: “We can’t be sleeping on the details like this. We talk about it, but I have the impression that on the field, it goes in one ear and out the other.”
Rami, who dated Pamela Anderson for two years between 2017 and 2019, was particularly critical of his team’s performance on Saturday, adding: “We didn’t see a team that wanted to fight to stay up.
“We lowered our heads, and we gave them the match. I don’t know why. We didn’t show a good image.”
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Rami, 27, dated Pamela Anderson between 2017 and 2019Credit: AFP or licensors
Anderson, 55, turned down Rami’s marriage proposal in 2018 while he played for Marseille, and went on to accuse the footballer of emotional and physical abuse.
Rami strongly denied allegations.
He told The Sun in 2019: “I hallucinate because it is so bad, those who know me know who I am and what are my principles, they know that this is impossible and that I’m incapable of doing such things.
“If she wanted to hurt me she chose very well.
“She knows that my commitment to the cause of violence against women is something very important for me.
“I respect the people at Solidarité Femmes that I have met, and their fight, far too much. It is really disgusting.
“It’s one thing to lie to keep a good relationship with her ex and her children but lying about violence in order to hurt me that’s going too far and it’s unjust.”
Anderson accused Rami of domestic abuse upon their split… an accusation the footballer deniedCredit: AP:Associated Press More

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN boss Christophe Galtier was confronted by Nice players after sarcastically applauding fans of his former club.Galtier sarcastically clapped Nice supporters after they reportedly unfurled a banner insulting his 83-year-old’s mother in Saturday’s game between the two sides.
PSG boss Christophe Galtier sarcastically applauded Nice fans after Saturday’s match between the two teamsCredit: Rex
Nice supporters reportedly unfurled a banner insulting Galtier’s motherCredit: Getty
Galtier spent last season in charge of NiceCredit: Rex
Galtier was confronted by Nice players after sarcastically clapping the club’s fansCredit: Getty
The PSG manager then slammed Nice fans in his post-match press conference.
According to Get French Football News, Galtier was confronted by Nice stars Khephren Thuram and Jean-Clair Todibo after he sarcastically applauded fans of his former club.
But Galtier defended his reaction and was left fuming by the banner insulting his mum, who is currently recovering from cancer.
He said in his press conference: “Why did I react like that? Did you see [the banner]? Did you read it? Did you hear?
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“My mother is 83 years old, she’s recovering from cancer. Full stop.”
Galtier spent last season in charge of Nice, leading the club to a fifth-place finish in Ligue 1.
And he pointed out that he is partly responsible for Nice’s success in the Europa Conference League this season, with a quarter-final against Basel on the horizon.
Galtier continued: “The work I did last season is the reason those people can watch European matches.
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“Whatever people think, it’s the work we did last season, along with what Didier [Digard] has done, which means there are still European matches in Nice.”
According to French outlet RMC Sport, Nice could be sanctioned for the banner.
They reportedly risk a fine of around £4,500.
On the pitch, goals from Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos secured a 2-0 win for PSG and Galtier against his former club.
The result halted a run of two consecutive defeats for PSG, although Galtier and Co remain six points clear of Lens at the top of Ligue 1.
Lionel Messi scored the opener in a 2-0 win for PSGCredit: Getty
Sergio Ramos then added a second with a headerCredit: Getty More

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN star Kylian Mbappe missed an open goal but eagle-eyed fans have noticed it would have been disallowed anyway. The French champions were leading Nice 2-0 in the closing minutes of the game when the striker misses a glorious chance to get on the scoresheet.
Kylian Mbappe incredibly missed a huge chance to scoreCredit: BT Sport
He put the ball too high but he was offsideCredit: BT Sport
Messi should not have passed to MbappeCredit: Reuters
Lionel Messi picked up the loose ball just inside the box and passed it beyond the rushing out goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to Mbappe.
He took one touch, dribbled it around his opponent before to the shock of everyone, firing his shot into the crowd with just a defender on the line.
Mbappe collapsed to the floor in embarrassment, but his blushes were saved by the fact Messi was wrong to pass to him.
The 24-year-old was actually offside because only the Nice defender on the line was nearer to the goal than him.
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The offside laws state two players must play an attacker onside.
Fans were still left shocked by the horror miss, one said: “How the hell is Mbappe missing?”
Another commented: “OMG I am in pain.”
A third reacted: “Messi should have just scored the goal himself. But the man is selfless to fault.”
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Many supporters brought up the fact that the Argentinian legend has been booed by PSG fans in recent weeks, but he was excellent last night.
Messi netted his side’s first in the game then got the assist as Sergio Ramos doubled thier advantage.
The win moved PSG six points clear at the top of Ligue 1. More