Ligue 1, Serie A and LaLiga 2022/23 final weekend insights
We’ve got mini previews of 6 of the most interesting matches taking place on the final weekend of the 2022/23 Ligue 1, Serie A and LaLiga campaigns.
Saturday 3rd June
It’s a complicated final-day assignment for Auxerre, who are 2 points above 17th-placed Nantes. A win will guarantee safety for Auxerre, but a draw or a defeat opens the door for Nantes, who face already-relegated Angers and are heavy favourites to get all 3 points. A draw or defeat for Auxerre and a win for Nantes would see Auxerre relegated.
Auxerre will hope that Lens relent slightly now they’ve sealed qualification for the Champions League following 6 straight wins. Lens have been in scintillating form since the start of March, winning 10 out of 12 Ligue 1 matches (D1 L1).
4 teams are being demoted to Ligue 2 this season in France, with just 2 sides getting promoted as Ligue 1 cuts down to 18 clubs next term.
Empoli’s safety is guaranteed while Lazio’s place inside the top 3 is also assured, reducing the pressure on both sides. Their last 2 Serie A meetings were drawn 3-3 and 2-2. You have to go all the way back to November 2015, though, for Empoli’s last win over Lazio (D2 L6 since).
Maurizio Sarri’s capital club will seal second place if they equal or better Inter’s result at Torino earlier in the day, which would be their highest finish since last winning Serie A in 1999/00.
With an ever-demanding crowd at the Parc des Princes to watch champions PSG, we’re not necessarily guaranteed a party atmosphere in the French capital after Christophe Galtier’s side stuttered to the title and again failed to win the Champions League. It might also be the last time a few players wear their colours, such is the nature of the revolving door at Paris Saint-Germain.
Clermont currently occupy 8th place after a late-season flurry which saw them win 5 league matches on the bounce in April. Overall, they’ve won 7 of their last 9.
PSG’s home form has been patchy in 2023 with defeats to Rennes and Lyon in successive matches, followed not long after by defeat to Lorient. With the pressure off, Clermont might fancy their chances of springing an upset.
Lionel Messi might have other ideas in potentially his final game for the Parisian club. He’s notched 16 goals and 16 assists in Ligue 1 this term, and his teammate Kylian Mbappé has 28 goals, leading Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette (27) in the Ligue 1 top scorer race. Lyon are away to Nice in their final game.
Sunday 4th June
The only thing left for Los Blancos to play for this season is to finish above city rivals Atlético Madrid, who trail them by a single point.
Athletic Bilbao come to the Bernabéu knowing a win will deliver them the hotly-contested Europa Conference League place if Osasuna fail to beat Girona. The middle of LaLiga is extremely congested with just a point separating Sevilla in 11th and Osasuna in 7th.
The Basque club arrive in the capital in poor form though with 5 defeats and just a solitary win in their last 7 outings.
Atléti have scored 21 goals in their last 7 LaLiga matches, casting away outdated theories that they’re a boring, defensive team. The other side of that coin is Diego Simeone’s men have now kept just 1 clean sheet in their last 10 top-flight appearances. Their 37 league matches to date this season have produced a healthy average of 2.68 goals per game. Star striker Antoine Griezmann has 15 goals and 14 assists in the league.
Villarreal, their opponents on the final day, will finish 5th regardless of what happens in this fixture. The Yellow Submarine are unbeaten in their last 3 LaLiga matches against Atléti, and 3 of the last 5 have ended all square.
Atléti have to win and hope Real Madrid fail to beat Athletic Bilbao to finish 2nd in the LaLiga table. They trail Los Blancos by a point but have an inferior H2H record this season.
AC Milan’s spot in next season’s Champions League is secure, so their only remaining objective is to finish above Inter, though the Nerazzurri need just a point away to Torino to guarantee third place.
Hellas Verona, by contrast, have Serie A survival to play for. The Gialloblu need to better Spezia’s result away to Roma in order to stay up on the final day, with Spezia currently ahead of them by virtue of a superior H2H record in league matches this season.
Verona have only won 1 of their last 6 Serie A matches though, so they need to pull something out the fire at San Siro.