PSG Win 13th French Title Ahead of Aston Villa Champions League Clash

PSG's supporters celebrate winning the French League One championship title after the soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Angers at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
PSG's supporters celebrate winning the French League One championship title after the soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Angers at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
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PSG Win 13th French Title Ahead of Aston Villa Champions League Clash

PSG's supporters celebrate winning the French League One championship title after the soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Angers at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
PSG's supporters celebrate winning the French League One championship title after the soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Angers at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Paris Saint-Germain clinched the Ligue 1 title on Saturday with a 1-0 win at home against Angers as they prepare for a Champions League quarter-final showdown with Aston Villa.

PSG needed just a draw at home to their struggling opponents to be confirmed as champions again, having started the day a huge 21 points clear of nearest challengers Monaco with seven matches left.

Desire Doue's strike early in the second half decided the game in PSG's favor, allowing Luis Enrique's team to take the title with six matches still to play.

It is a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title for the club from the French capital and their 11th in the last 13 seasons.

Their overall tally of 13 French league titles is three more than Saint-Etienne, who are the next most successful club with 10 but have not been champions since 1981.

Marseille have won nine titles, while Nantes and Monaco have each been champions on eight occasions.

The extent to which winning the French league has become a routine exercise for the Parisian outfit helps explain why celebrations were far from excessive on a beautiful spring day in the city.

However, Luis Enrique was raised aloft by members of his coaching staff while the PSG players undertook a lap of honor of the Parc des Princes pitch.

The trophy ceremony will take place at a later date, with PSG maintaining their focus on the European clash with Villa, who visit the Parc des Princes for the first leg of their quarter-final on Wednesday, before the return in England on April 15.

However, PSG have another objective in their sights in the league, one which would make this title triumph stand out above all others, AFP reported.

They remain undefeated after 28 matches, with 23 wins and just five draws, and are on course to become the first team to complete a Ligue 1 campaign without losing a game.

The closest any French side has come to an unbeaten season remains Nantes, who went undefeated through their first 32 games before losing their only game on the way to winning the title in 1994/95.

That was a 38-game season, while PSG will only play 34 matches in this campaign, with the league having recently been reduced from 20 clubs to 18.

They will not play again in Ligue 1 until a home meeting with struggling Le Havre on April 19, with next week's trip to Nantes postponed to April 22 in order to allow PSG to recover in between the two legs of their tie against Villa.

Ousmane Dembele, PSG's top scorer with 32 goals in all competitions this season, was rested at kick-off against Angers, having netted twice in the 4-2 midweek win over second-tier Dunkerque in the semi-finals of the French Cup.

Bradley Barcola, the team's second-top marksman on 18 goals, was also left out of the starting line-up and it was far from a vintage performance by the home side.

They were perhaps fortunate early on when Angers forward Esteban Lepaul ran through on goal before being outmuscled by Willian Pacho, the challenge a fair one in the eyes of the referee.

Doue was on hand to convert from a Khvicha Kvaratskhelia cross 10 minutes into the second half as he scored his 11th goal in all competitions since signing from Rennes at the start of the season.

That proved enough for PSG to win the game and take the title, maintaining Luis Enrique's record of having won every domestic trophy since he took over prior to last season.

Monaco are in action later away to Brest, while Lyon host Lille in Saturday's other Ligue 1 game, a key encounter in the fight for Champions League qualification.



Villa Face Chelsea Test as Premier League Title Race Heats Up

Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Manchester United - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - December 21, 2025 Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers celebrates scoring their second goal =. (Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs)
Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Manchester United - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - December 21, 2025 Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers celebrates scoring their second goal =. (Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs)
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Villa Face Chelsea Test as Premier League Title Race Heats Up

Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Manchester United - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - December 21, 2025 Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers celebrates scoring their second goal =. (Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs)
Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Manchester United - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - December 21, 2025 Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers celebrates scoring their second goal =. (Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs)

Aston Villa face a tough challenge at Chelsea on Saturday after muscling their way into the Premier League title race alongside Arsenal and Manchester City.

The Gunners, top of the tree at Christmas, host Brighton, while Pep Guardiola's in-form City travel to Nottingham Forest.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot is grappling with a striker crisis after Alexander Isak fractured his leg, while Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes also faces a spell on the sidelines.

AFP Sport looks at three talking points ahead of the festive action:

Rogers spearheads Villa charge

Unai Emery's third-placed Villa are still considered rank outsiders for the Premier League title even though they are just three points behind leaders Arsenal.

Villa's 2-1 home win against Manchester United was their 10th consecutive victory in all competitions -- the first time they have achieved the feat as a top-flight team since 1914.

One of the major reasons for their recent success is the form of England midfielder Morgan Rogers, who failed to register a single goal involvement in his first seven matches in all competitions.

Now it is a different story: he has recorded 11 goal involvements in his past 15 appearances and the quality of his goals has been striking.

Rogers' seven Premier League goals this season have come from just 2.86 expected goals -- a metric used to determine how likely a player is to convert a chance.

But football analysts Opta give Villa just a five percent chance of becoming English champions for the first time since 1981.

Emery's men have an opportunity to silence the doubters when they take on fourth-placed Chelsea, with a match at Arsenal to follow just days later.

Slot's goals headache

In the early weeks of the season, Arne Slot would probably have envisaged Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak as two of his first-choice attackers.

Now the Liverpool boss has neither -- Salah is with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Isak faces at least two months on the sidelines after fracturing his leg against Tottenham.

Slot has steadied the ship at Anfield after a shocking run of six defeats in seven Premier League matches that left Liverpool's title defense in tatters.

A run of three wins and two draws in five league games has lifted the reigning champions into fifth spot, but there will be concerns over where the goals are going to come from ahead of the visit of bottom club Wolves.

Isak's absence will heap more pressure on the shoulders of top-scorer Hugo Ekitike.

The summer signing has netted eight times in the Premier League -- twice the tallies of Salah and Cody Gakpo.

Fernandes blow for Man Utd

Bruno Fernandes has been a shining light and virtually ever-present during Manchester United's recent lean years.

But manager Ruben Amorim is going to have to plan for a period without his talisman after the Portugal midfielder pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury in United's 2-1 defeat at Villa Park.

While the prognosis is unclear, Amorim has already ruled Fernandes out of United's clash against Newcastle at Old Trafford on Friday, among a list of absentees, with the Portuguese boss urging the rest of his squad to "step up" in the absence of his "impossible to replace" captain.

"It's massive," defender Diogo Dalot told Sky Sports. "We don't know how bad it is but for him to come off (in) the game, we know how tough he is."

Playmaker Fernandes has five goals and seven assists in the Premier League this season for inconsistent United, who are also without top-scorer Bryan Mbeumo, on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Cameroon.


Romero Faces FA Charge for Behavior After Liverpool Dismissal

Tottenham Hotspur's Argentinian defender #17 Cristian Romero (C) and Spanish defender #23 Pedro Porro (R) remonstrate with referee John Brooks (L) during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on December 20, 2025. (AFP)
Tottenham Hotspur's Argentinian defender #17 Cristian Romero (C) and Spanish defender #23 Pedro Porro (R) remonstrate with referee John Brooks (L) during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on December 20, 2025. (AFP)
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Romero Faces FA Charge for Behavior After Liverpool Dismissal

Tottenham Hotspur's Argentinian defender #17 Cristian Romero (C) and Spanish defender #23 Pedro Porro (R) remonstrate with referee John Brooks (L) during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on December 20, 2025. (AFP)
Tottenham Hotspur's Argentinian defender #17 Cristian Romero (C) and Spanish defender #23 Pedro Porro (R) remonstrate with referee John Brooks (L) during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on December 20, 2025. (AFP)

Tottenham captain Cristian Romero was charged by England's Football Association with allegedly acting in an "improper" manner in response to being sent off during Saturday's 2-1 Premier League defeat against Liverpool.

With Xavi Simons already being given a red ‌card earlier, ‌Tottenham ended up ‌with ⁠nine men ‌after captain Romero was given a second yellow for a tackle on Ibrahima Konate in the 93rd minute.

"It's alleged that he (Romero) acted in ⁠an improper manner by failing to ‌promptly leave the ‍field of ‍play and/or behaving in a ‍confrontational and/or aggressive manner towards the match referee after being sent off in the 93rd minute," the FA said in a statement.

Romero has until ⁠January 2 to respond to the charge.

The dismissal meant he already has to serve a one-match ban and will miss Sunday's away trip to Crystal Palace.

Tottenham are 14th in the league table with 22 points, 17 ‌behind leaders and derby rivals Arsenal.


Mahrez Leads Algeria to AFCON Cruise Against Sudan

 Algeria's Riyad Mahrez celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Africa Cup of Nations group E soccer match between Algeria and Sudan in Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP)
Algeria's Riyad Mahrez celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Africa Cup of Nations group E soccer match between Algeria and Sudan in Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP)
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Mahrez Leads Algeria to AFCON Cruise Against Sudan

 Algeria's Riyad Mahrez celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Africa Cup of Nations group E soccer match between Algeria and Sudan in Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP)
Algeria's Riyad Mahrez celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Africa Cup of Nations group E soccer match between Algeria and Sudan in Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP)

Captain Riyad Mahrez scored in each half as 2019 champions Algeria eased to a 3-0 win over 10-man Sudan in their opening game at the Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday.

Mahrez got the opener after just 82 seconds to the delight of the Algerian fans who made up the vast majority of the 16,115 crowd at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat.

The former Manchester City winger, now with Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia, got his and his team's second goal just after the hour mark and Ibrahim Maza wrapped up the win late on as Algeria started in the best possible fashion in Group E.

Among the spectators in the Moroccan capital was France legend Zinedine Zidane, whose parents came from Algeria and whose son Luca was starting in goal for the Desert Foxes.

His appearance on big screens in the ground drew huge cheers from Algerian supporters who will have been delighted to see their team produce a convincing performance.

Algeria were eliminated in the first round without a win at each of the last two AFCON tournaments but wasted no time in breaking the deadlock against the group outsiders.

The match was little over a minute old when Mohamed Amoura's ball across the penalty box was met by a back-heel from Hicham Boudaoui to tee up Mahrez. He took a touch before firing in.

Zidane then did well to save at the feet of Sudan's Yaser Awad Boshara but Algeria were by far the better side.

Sudan's chances of getting back into the game were then severely dented when Salaheldin Adil was sent off six minutes before the interval for a second booking for chopping down Rayan Ait-Nouri.

Ramy Bensebaini had a goal disallowed for offside moments later but Mahrez made it 2-0 on 61 minutes as he connected with a lovely outside-of-the-boot assist from Amoura.

Mahrez, appearing at his sixth AFCON, now has eight goals at the tournament. He came off to an ovation from the Algerian fans late on.

Substitute Maza, of Bayer Leverkusen, finished from Baghdad Bounedjah's knockdown with five minutes left to score Algeria's 100th AFCON goal and make it 3-0.

Sudan have now won just once in 17 Cup of Nations matches since lifting the trophy in 1970.

Earlier in the same group, Burkina Faso came from behind to beat 10-man Equatorial Guinea 2-1 thanks to two goals deep in injury time in Casablanca.

Basilio Ndong was sent off just after half-time for Equatorial Guinea but they looked set to win the game when substitute Marvin Anieboh headed in on 85 minutes.

However, Georgi Minoungou equalized in the fifth added minute before Leverkusen defender Edmond Tapsoba grabbed a dramatic 98th-minute winner.