French Eurostars return to title fight

After proving in midweek that French football bears comparison with the best the Champions League has to offer, Bordeaux and Lyon return to domestic action this weekend, jousting for home supremacy.

Bordeaux broke Lyon’s record run of seven straight championships last May and the pair are once again locked into the top two places with the Girondins currently two points clear of their rivals from the east after 11 games.

Any notion the two sides might find Europe a tougher proposition than a league regarded as weak compared with England, Spain and Italy, must be laid aside after Bordeaux did the double over four-time continental champions Bayern Munich and Lyon pushed Liverpool to the brink of elimination.

Bordeaux would appear to have the easier task on Sunday, when they are in action at struggling Lille, whereas Lyon host potential title rivals in Marseille.

Didier Deschamps’ Marseille, the only French side to lift the European Cup, are seven points adrift of the summit amid a season dogged by the kind of inconsistency which saw them held at home by midtable Toulouse.

But Marseille, who will again be without Argentine Lucho Gonzalez owing to an ankle strain, did glean a point at the Stade Gerland last season – dropped points which ultimately helped loosen Lyon’s long grip on the title.

Bordeaux themselves will have no reason to be complacent as they head north to Lille, having lost last year’s corresponding fixture 2-1.

Despite proving their European mettle, Laurent Blanc’s side are set to struggle to persuade striker Marouane Chamakh, a summer target for Arsenal, to put down roots.

Chamakh is out of contract next summer and told Sud Ouest newspaper he has yet to agree a new deal.

“Nothing is definitive, the door is still open. I have decided not to extend (my contract) for the time being but that does not mean I will not stay at Bordeaux next season. I’ve six or seven months to take a decision,” said Chamakh.

Seven-times league champions Monaco, whose last success came in 2000 and who host Grenoble on Saturday, have fought their way up to third, four points off the pace and one clear of Montpellier and Auxerre.

Narrowly beaten last week in Bordeaux, the Monegasques – three wins in four outings – will expect to extend Grenoble’s unwanted record start to a French league season comprising 11 straight defeats.

Elsewhere, Montpellier will hope to continue their unlikely push for a tilt at a Champions League slot with three points at fellow top six inhabitants Valenciennes.

Auxerre can harbour similar ambitions, at least for now, with a victory at second-bottom Le Mans.

And Paris Saint Germain will hope that last week’s romp at Sochaux can form the basis of an assault on the European placings as they strive to move up from midtable.

The capital club will take on a Nice side who could leapfrog them with a win at the Parc des Princes.

PSG edged last season’s fixture by the odd goal in three.

Fixtures (all times GMT):

Saturday

Valenciennes v Montpellier (1800)

Paris SG v Nice (1800)

Lorient v Boulogne (1800)

Monaco v Grenoble (1800)

Nancy v St Etienne (1800)

Le Mans v Auxerre (1800)

Sochaux v Lens (2000)

Sunday

Lille v Bordeaux (1600)

Toulouse v Rennes (1600)

Lyon v Marseille (2000)