Lille finishes third in Ligue 1 to secure a Champions League berth despite losing to Auxerre

Lille finished the Ligue 1 season in third place to secure a berth in next season’s Champions League despite losing 2-0 at home to Auxerre on the final day, and already crowned French champion Paris Saint-Germain concluded its domestic campaign on a poor note.

Three clubs — Lille, Lyon and Rennes — could have still finished third before Sunday’s final round of matches and join champion PSG and runner-up Lens in Europe’s top club competition. But none of the trio managed to win, and Lille secured the coveted spot, one point above Lyon, which will go into Champions League qualifying.

Mali forward Lassine Sinayoko scored a brace for Auxerre, making sure his team would remain in the top flight and avoid the relegation playoff.

“This is not the match we wanted to play, but the main thing is that we finish third, it’s the reward for a whole season, we should not focus on this final match,” Lille captain Benjamin Andre said. “This is very important for the club. Everybody wants to play in the Champions League.”

Lyon’s hopes of finishing third quickly faded as coach Paulo Fonseca’s players trailed by three goals before halftime at home against Lens. Florian Thauvin added another goal in the second half to seal the visitors’ 4-0 win.

Meanwhile, Marseille beat Rennes 3-1 with goals from Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg, Amine Gouiri and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Esteban Lepaul, the league’s top scorer, reduced the deficit with his 21st goal this season.

The win lifted Marseille to fifth place — level on points with Rennes but with a better goal difference — and into the Europa League.

In Paris, PSG, which sealed its 14th league title on Wednesday, made a short trip to its neighbor Paris FC and concluded its domestic season with a 2-1 loss.

Bradley Barcola put PSG in front only for Alimami Gory to level in the 76th and complete his brace in added time. PSG had been knocked out of the French Cup by Paris FC in January.

PSG will now focus on preparations for the Champions League final against Arsenal on May 30 at Puskas Arena in Budapest.

Nice, which drew 0-0 with last-place Metz, finished 16th and will take on Saint-Etienne in a tricky promotion-relegation playoff. The pitch was invaded a few seconds after the final whistle.

Strasbourg produced a remarkable comeback to beat Monaco 5-4 after trailing 4-1 in the 55th minute. Martial Godo and Sebastian Nanasi both scored twice in the game.

Halilhodzic’s chaotic last game

Veteran Nantes coach Vahid Halilhodzic saw the final match of his career end with an abandoned game.

Halilhodzic was honored with a guard of honor from the players and staff before the match against Toulouse and was treated to loud applause.

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But the evening quickly descended into chaos as fans angered by Nantes’ relegation to the second division stormed the field. After a lengthy interruption, local authorities ordered the match to be abandoned for security reasons.

The 74-year-old Halilhodzic is retiring after returning to Nantes in March and failing in his mission to keep the eight-time champion among the elite.

Halilhodzic won the French title with Nantes as a striker in 1983 and is third on the club’s all-time scorers list with 93 league goals. He scored eight goals for then-Yugoslavia. His coaching career included spells with Lille — where he was named coach of the season — and PSG, before taking charge of Ivory Coast, Algeria, Japan and Morocco.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer