Press review: Ligue 1 returns, refereeing and Rennes/PSG | OneFootball

This Friday, August 21, the French press (from a sporting perspective) discussed Paris Saint-Germain ahead of the league’s return this weekend, notably the changes to refereeing and the dispute surrounding Rennes/PSG over whether the return match should be played at Roazhon Park or the Parc des Princes.

Le Parisien –

L’Equipe –

Ligue 1 gets back underway this Friday evening (find the Matchday 1 schedule here), and it is an exciting moment. Anything is possible this season, and football knows how to surprise. Even though PSG are heavy favorites for the title, we know nothing is ever guaranteed. One club could be in particularly strong form. There are also many possibilities for the European places, and we have already seen relegation battles involve clubs no one expected.

All of this will play out with refereeing that is evolving. Overall, it will use the same rules as at the World Cup, such as microphone announcements to explain decisions after the use of VAR. VAR will now also be able to intervene on an incorrectly awarded corner or correct a second yellow card that leads to a red. As indicated, players will have only 10 seconds to leave the field, otherwise the substitute will have to wait a minute. On the other hand, the red card for a player covering his mouth was not adopted by UEFA.

As for the expected decision regarding the return match between Rennes and PSG, everything hinges on whether the heatwave is deemed exceptional or not. Rennes will fight to host the game again, even though they had no trouble filling Roazhon Park for Sunday’s match, whereas the difficulty of selling tickets in just a few days was a major argument for also playing the second match at home.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.