Having led Marseille back to the Champions League and united the hard-to-please fans behind him, coach Jorge Sampaoli left the team's preseason preparations in tatters when he quit on Friday.
After Marseille announced his departure, Sampaoli claimed his objectives were not met by the club — even though there was seemingly no bitterness between him and club president Pablo Longoria.
PARIS (AP) — Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain begins its bid for a record 11th French league title at modest Clermont in a season where games will be played on New Year's Day.
MARSEILLE, France (AP) — A permanent virtual exhibit of one of France’s most famous prehistoric sites, the undersea Cosquer Cave, is set to open its doors as concerns grow that it could be completely inundated as a result of rising tides driven by climate change.
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Liverpool and Aston Villa started building for next season by announcing the signings of highly rated youngsters on Monday.
Fabio Carvalho, a 19-year-old Portuguese forward who has just helped Fulham gain promotion to the Premier League, will join Liverpool on July 1.
PARIS (AP) — Kylian Mbappé's decision to stay with Paris Saint-Germain was widely celebrated in the French league, even by coaches who still have to defend against the prolific forward next season.
PARIS (AP) — Three more years, three more goals.
Kylian Mbappe celebrated a new-three year deal to stay at Paris Saint-Germain with a hat trick for the French champions against struggling Metz on Saturday, taking his league-leading tally to 28 and his PSG total to 171.
PARIS (AP) — Veteran forward Olivier Giroud was left out of the France squad and uncapped Marseille midfielder Boubacar Kamara summoned on Thursday for Nations League games.
AC Milan striker Giroud, who is on the verge of winning the Italian league, is only three behind Thierry Henry's national scoring record of 51 goals.
PARIS (AP) — Wissam Ben Yedder’s rapid hat trick helped Monaco rally from 2-0 down to beat Brest 4-2 for a ninth straight French league win on Saturday and move above Marseille into second place and the automatic Champions League place.
PARIS (AP) — While Monaco's decision to hire unheralded Belgian league coach Philippe Clement in January surprised many observers, it is now clearly paying off.
Monaco heads into the last two games of the French league on an eight-game winning streak and with a chance to secure Champions League soccer next season.
PARIS (AP) — French champion Paris Saint-Germain threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with 15th-place Troyes in another disappointing performance on Sunday.
PSG was in control of the league game after 25 minutes with goals from central defender Marquinhos, after Angel Di Maria's pinpoint cross, and forward Neymar, who scored from the penalty spot after Kylian Mbappe was fouled.
MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Dimitri Payet will miss the remaining three games of the French league season for Champions League-chasing Marseille after tearing a calf muscle.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — More than 30 arrests were made after supporters of English club West Ham and local team Eintracht Frankfurt clashed before their Europa League game, police said Thursday.
Frankfurt police said in a statement that they had to intervene “at several locations” the previous night because of fights between rival fans or because supporters “wanted to fight.” The police said they stopped major altercation around the main train station.
PARIS (AP) — Marseille is under pressure to hold onto second place in the French league and will need Dimitri Payet in his best form to secure automatic entry into next season's Champions League.
The 35-year-old Payet is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career, and is on course to beat his career record for most goals in a season.
PARIS (AP) — A wasteful Marseille saw its lead in the race for second place shrink to three points after losing to Lyon 3-0 in the French league on Sunday.
The top two French clubs enter the group stage of the Champions League while the third-place team goes to the third qualifying round of the lucrative European competition.
Hiring a relatively unknown coach with no experience of the French league didn't immediately pay off for Monaco.
It's paying off now.
The Principality club's winning form under Philippe Clement has seen it climb to fourth in the standings as the race for a place in next season's Champions League intensifies.
PARIS (AP) — Boos at halftime were replaced by raucous cheering at fulltime when Paris Saint-Germain clinched a record-tying 10th French league title after drawing with Lens 1-1 on Saturday.
Lionel Messi, in his first season with PSG, controlled a pass from Neymar before curling home from the edge of the box in the 68th minute to pacify frustrated PSG supporters.
It's been more than three years since Dimitri Payet last played in a France shirt. At 35, his best years are behind him and his legs get tired quicker than they used to.
But with one last chance to play at a World Cup, Payet is doing everything to earn a seat on the plane that will carry the defending champions to Qatar in November.
PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain all but sealed a record-equaling 10th French league crown with five rounds to spare by winning 3-0 at Angers on Wednesday.
PSG is 15 points ahead of second-place Marseille and has a vastly superior goal difference, but still still needs one point at home against Lens on Saturday to clinch the title.
PARIS (AP) — Although Paris Saint-Germain can seal a record-equaling 10th French league crown on Wednesday, the fans are in no mood for celebration and a tense atmosphere hangs over the club.
PSG can join Marseille and Saint-Etienne on 10 titles if it wins at Angers and second-place Marseille fails to win at home to Nantes.
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Violence by Marseille fans led to UEFA ordering the French club on Tuesday to close part of its stadium for the Europa Conference League semifinal against Feyenoord.
The punishment, after unrest in the quarterfinals against Greek club PAOK, will also see Marseille fined €80,000 ($86,000) for the lighting of fireworks, throwing of objects and crowd disturbances, and a further €18,000 for blocking public passageways.
PARIS (AP) — Runaway leader Paris Saint-Germain took a step closer to reclaiming the French league title after beating rival Marseille 2-1 on Sunday in a game lacking the intensity befitting their bitter rivalry and featuring two controversial decisions that went PSG's way.
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron held a major campaign rally Saturday in Marseille, touting his environmental and climate accomplishments and future plans in a bid to draw in young voters who supported more politically extreme candidates in the first round of France's presidential election.
PARIS (AP) — Rennes missed the chance to move into second place in the French league and the automatic Champions League spot after losing at home to Monaco 3-2 on Friday.
Third-placed Rennes would have been second on goal difference if it won.
PARIS (AP) — Stopping Kylian Mbappe is crucial to Marseille's chances at league leader Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday as it pushes for second place and automatic qualification for the Champions League.
PARIS (AP) — Marseille defender William Saliba has been called up to France’s national team for upcoming friendly matches as a replacement for Benjamin Pavard, the French soccer federation said Monday.
PARIS (AP) — Lens defender Jonathan Clauss and Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku received their first call-ups to France's national team on Thursday.
Clauss and Nkunku were included in France coach Didier Deschamps' 23-man list of players for upcoming friendly matches.
MARSEILLE, France (AP) — It might sound paradoxical, but Marseille having the home advantage against Nice at buoyant Velodrome stadium in Sunday’s showcase French league match is not playing in its favor.
PARIS (AP) — Nice upended French league leader Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 with a score from Andy Delort off the bench and moved into second place on Saturday.
Delort met a cross from Calvin Stengs to volley into the top corner in the 88th minute.
PARIS (AP) — Marseille missed the chance to move three points clear in second place in the French league after conceding a last-minute equalizer in a 1-1 draw at struggling Troyes on Sunday.
Striker Yoann Touzghar profited from poor Marseille defending to slide in the equalizer after playmaker Dimitri Payet’s penalty put Marseille ahead in the 28th minute.
PARIS (AP) — Runaway league leader Paris Saint-Germain again relied on Kylian Mbappe as it rallied from a goal down to beat Saint-Etienne 3-1 at home on Saturday.
Mbappe has rescued PSG with late goals this season and this time he scored either side of halftime, before assisting on the third goal for midfielder Danilo in the 52nd minute at Parc des Princes.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Second-seeded Andrey Rublev beat Daniel Evans 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the Dubai Championships on Tuesday, just two days after winning his ninth tour title.
PARIS (AP) — Marseille dropped points in the chase for second place in the French league after losing 2-0 at home to struggling Clermont on Sunday.
Second spot seals automatic entry into the Champions League next season, but Marseille's defeat leaves it just one point ahead of third-place Nice and still 13 points behind leader Paris Saint-Germain.
PARIS (AP) — Arkadiusz Milik scored a spectacular winning goal as Marseille beat Metz 2-1 in the French league on Sunday to move four points clear in second place, an automatic Champions League spot.
PARIS (AP) — Kylian Mbappe came through yet again for French league leader Paris Saint-Germain when he scored in the third minute of injury time to scrape a 1-0 home win against Rennes on Friday.
Mbappe was set up by Lionel Messi in the 93rd minute for his 12th league goal.
PARIS (AP) — Justin Kluivert scored a pair of goals his prolific father would have been proud of as Nice beat Marseille 4-1 to reach the semifinals of the French Cup on Wednesday.
Kluivert netted with a firm downward header for the first, then a powerful looping shot over the goalkeeper from just outside the penalty area for the second.