Mauricio Pochettino has not given up on winning Ligue 1, but conceded Paris Saint-Germain got no less than they deserved against Rennes as their title hopes took a hit following a 1-1 draw.
Neymar celebrated his new four-year deal with PSG by scoring a contentious penalty to put Pochettino's team ahead on Sunday, only for Serhou Guirassy's fine header to seal a point for Rennes.
PSG were in fact lucky not to lose, with Presnel Kimpembe seeing red late on and Keylor Navas pulling out some impressive saves to keep it at 1-1.
The draw leaves PSG three points behind Lille with two games remaining – no team has ever been crowned Ligue 1 champions with such a gap at this stage – and the title may well be wrapped up next week should the capital club drop points against Reims and the leaders beat Saint-Etienne.
Indeed, it is not just the title PSG have to worry about, with their place in the Champions League no certainty.
PSG edged possession (57.8 per cent) against Rennes, but their tally of 12 attempts was seven fewer than the hosts managed, while only four of them were on target – Bruno Genesio's European hopefuls, who were without key midfielders Steven Nzonzi and Eduardo Camavinga, managing 10 in total.
"A lot can still happen, we are disappointed, but we have to give credit to Rennes, who had a very good game," PSG head coach Pochettino in his post-match news conference.
"We have to win the next matches to hope for something. We were not better than Rennes over 90 minutes, we did not deserve to take three points.
"It's a season with a lot of ups and downs, we arrived four months ago to help the club. A club like PSG must always think in the future. Every club thinks of improving, decisions will be made at the end of the season, we always think of improving."
While Neymar toiled, he was not helped by the absence of Kylian Mbappe, who was suspended – albeit he has been struggling with an injury which kept him from featuring against Manchester City in the Champions League midweek as PSG lost in the semi-finals.
Asked if Mbappe's absence was a major factor in the poor performance, Pochettino replied: "We must not think that we did not win because of an absence."
PSG have now failed to keep a clean sheet in their last eight Ligue 1 fixtures, conceding 11 goals in total, making it their longest such run since a streak of 11 top-flight matches back in 2012.
The frustration boiled over heading towards the dying embers, with France centre-back Kimpembe lunging in on Jeremy Doku and receiving a straight red.
"We see frustration with the result, he arrives late. We are professionals, we know our responsibilities, our obligations," Pochettino said.
PSG captain Marquinhos, however, did not hold back.
"We will play what we have left to play. We have a Coupe de France to go for and the championship to continue to put pressure on Lille," he told Canal+.
"We have to go 100 per cent. It is unacceptable to leave points like that when we are Paris Saint-Germain. It can happen once, twice, but it's starting to happen a lot. We have to be sincere, it's not our best season, we weren't very strong. We have to do a lot better at the end of the season."
Palmer will become one of the world's best players, predicts Cucurella
Cole Palmer will be among the very best players in the world if he continues on his current trajectory, believes the forward's Chelsea team-mate Marc Cucurella.
Palmer enjoyed a magnificent debut campaign in 2023-24 after swapping Manchester City for Stamford Bridge, with his 33 Premier League goal involvements (22 goals, 11 assists) the most of any player.
After impressing for England at Euro 2024 – where he came off the bench to score in their 2-1 final defeat to Spain – Palmer has picked up where he left off this term, registering 11 goal contributions (six goals, five assists) to once again lead the charts.
He became the first player in Premier League history to score four goals before half-time in a single game versus Brighton and Hove Albion in September, when he scooped the competition's Player of the Month award.
Palmer also won England's Player of the Year award for last campaign and Cucurella, who was a key part of the Spain team that defeated the Three Lions in Berlin, believes he is destined for the very summit.
"If you see him not in his kit you would never in your life say he was a footballer, but then on the pitch... he shoots and it doesn’t seem like he is hitting it hard but he scores," Cucurella said in an interview with The Guardian.
"He's very different. I don't know how to explain it: he's special. We’re very lucky we have him.
"We [Spain] are lucky he didn’t play much in the Euros either because he came on and almost messed it up for us.
"If he carries on like this, he'll be among the best. He doesn't have much strength in the air, but if that’s his only problem, then he's all right."
Chelsea are unbeaten in six Premier League games since going down 2-0 to champions City on matchday one, with boss Enzo Maresca winning the competition's Manager of the Month prize for September.
Though it is still early days for the Italian coach, Cucurella says the Blues have lofty ambitions under him.
"Our objective has to be to win a trophy," he said. "In the Conference League we can do something good, and the cups.
"Arsenal and City have been working in the same way for many years, the same idea, the same players, and I think we’re a bit far away from that.
"Liverpool too because it's been the same players. But we can get into the Champions League, that's the key objective."
Arsenal 'envious' of Chelsea's WSL dominance, admits McCabe
Arsenal are "envious" of the era of dominance over the Women's Super League enjoyed by rivals Chelsea, admitted Katie McCabe ahead of Saturday's derby between the sides.
Chelsea have won five straight WSL crowns, edging out Manchester City on goal difference last season to give Emma Hayes a triumphant send-off before she joined the United States.
Now under the stewardship of former Lyon boss Sonia Bompastor, Chelsea are the only team in the WSL with a perfect record this term, winning their opening two matches before seeing last week's clash with Manchester United postponed.
Arsenal, on the other hand, have already played out home draws with Man City and Everton, ramping up the pressure ahead of Saturday's game at the Emirates Stadium.
Asked by reporters how it felt to see Arsenal's rivals dominate year after year, full-back McCabe said: "It always hurts.
"You want that to be you. You are in a team sport to be lifting trophies with your team-mates.
"Of course you are envious of them being successful. What we can do is focus on ourselves and put one foot in front of the other. Hopefully, by the end of the season, that will be us."
While Chelsea approach this weekend's headline fixture as favourites, they were trounced 4-1 in this exact game last December, with Alessio Russo scoring twice in one of just three league defeats the Blues suffered all campaign.
Looking back at that victory, McCabe said: "We take those moments as positives and bring it in and really instil that winning mentality into the team.
"We already did it last year, so it's not a new thing for us. It is about controlling ourselves, controlling our gameplan and what we want to do in the game and applying it."
Chelsea focusing on themselves ahead of Arsenal clash, says Bompastor
Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor says the Blues are focusing purely on their own form as they bid to continue their flawless start to her reign against Arsenal.
Taking over from legendary boss Emma Hayes, Bompastor has overseen back-to-back Women's Super League wins over Aston Villa (1-0) and Crystal Palace (7-0).
The Blues saw their matchday three fixture versus Manchester United postponed last week, but a victory over rivals Arsenal in Saturday's lone WSL game would take them top of the table.
Arsenal were tipped as candidates to end Chelsea's five-year reign at the summit of the English game in pre-season, only to draw two of their opening three matches, but Bompastor is not concerned with others' results.
"The players are really focused on themselves and on the team. I just want them to stay focused on the job we have to do. We prepare for every game in such a professional way," Bompastor said.
"For me, Arsenal is no different from the other teams we have been facing, so we focus on ourselves.
"We know what we need to do tomorrow to get a good result and a great performance, that's it. This game is worth three points, the same as the other ones.
"Of course it's a derby, a special game in that way, but it's just three points in the end. We have our ambitions, our goals, and this game will bring three points if we are able to win, that's it. I'm just focused on my team and what we need to do."
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last four home meetings with Chelsea in the WSL (two wins, two draws), but they have not won back-to-back home games against them since June 2013 (a run of three in a row).
They meet a Blues side in fine goalscoring form, winning their last five WSL games by an aggregate scoreline of 23-0 in a run dating back to Hayes' reign, though they have not won six straight league matches without conceding since April 2021.
Bompastor added: "We feel great. We had the last training session this afternoon and the weather was perfect, we really enjoyed it! The team is in a really good dynamic so we feel good.
"We played on Tuesday and we had a good result. We were able to manage the week the way we wanted to and I think we are ready for tomorrow, a big game and a derby."
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