Why Ligue 1 matchday three starts on Thursday | OneFootball

Ligue 1’s third round will begin a day early, with Toulouse hosting Lille on Thursday at 20:45, stretching the matchday across four days.

On 27 July the LFP set the full matchday three programme, anticipating possible Champions League involvement for Olympique Lyonnais. According to Le Progres, the early adjustments were mapped out even before matchday one.

To give OL sufficient days before a potential first European game on Tuesday 8 September, their league fixture against Auxerre was placed on Friday 4 August at 19:00, after UEFA had indicated that would be their date if they qualified.

Lille, already assured of Champions League football after finishing third last season, were also due to play on Tuesday 8 against Real Betis, so their trip to Toulouse had to be brought forward before the weekend. PSG, set to begin the defence of their European title on Wednesday 9 versus Slovan Bratislava, were likewise promised an advanced domestic slot against Monaco on Friday at 21:05.

Lens did not receive the same treatment, as their Champions League bow is later, on Thursday at 21:00 away to Slavia Prague.

With three matches needing early slots before the weekend, and major clubs involved, the LFP and broadcaster Ligue 1+ faced a scheduling logjam. With both clubs’ agreement, Toulouse versus Lille was moved to Thursday to avoid two fixtures in the same slot on Friday.

In the end OL did not qualify, losing 1-1 and 1-2 to Fenerbahçe, so they drop into the Europa League and will begin on Wednesday 16 September at Anderlecht. By then it was too late for the league to reverse course.

Source: Le Progres

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”