Two French league games fall victim to rain

Two French first division games were postponed on Sunday, with Marseille’s match at home to Rennes and Bordeaux’s trip to Monaco both falling victim to torrential rain.

The Marseille-Rennes match, originally scheduled to take place on Saturday evening, was initially postponed until 1700 local time (1600GMT) on Sunday, but a pitch inspection on Sunday afternoon found that the Stade Velodrome pitch was still waterlogged.

“In the interests of precaution, the safety of the players is of primary importance,” said match referee Fredy Fautrel.

With torrential rain widespread across southern France, Monaco’s home game with Bordeaux, which was scheduled to kick off at 1700 local time on Sunday, was also called off after the Stade Louis II pitch was deemed unplayable.

Rennes went into the weekend with a one-point lead over Marseille at the top of Ligue 1, but Brest’s 2-0 victory at home to Saint-Etienne on Saturday allowed them to go two points clear at the top of the standings.

Brest, promoted from the second division last season, are now guaranteed to remain on top of the standings until next weekend’s fixtures.

Montpellier, currently sixth, will climb to second if they win at home to seventh-placed Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday’s late game.