France

Between August 12 and 23 in Lisbon, Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain changed the narrative surrounding the club by advancing to the Champions League final and performing admirably against Bayern Munich.

In the space of four days coinciding with the club’s start to the 2020-21 season, you could say that PSG has reverted to an even lesser version of its old self.

Brest defeated Dijon 2-0 in Ligue 1 action on Sunday after Romain Perraud opened the scoring in the 42nd minute before Irvin Cardona added the insurance goal in the fifth-minute of second half stoppage time.

“Insurance goal” is one way to frame it. Another is a gravity-defying piece of exceptionalism that only belongs in the Shaolin Soccer film. 

PARIS — French champion Paris Saint-Germain, missing several players who tested positive for Covid-19, lost 1-0 at RC Lens in its first Ligue 1 game of the season on Thursday after a terrible error by goalkeeper Marcin Bulka.

Pole Bulka, 20, tried to play the ball out along the floor to a teammate but Cameroonian forward Ignatius Gango got there first to fire into the top corner and give Lens a surprise lead in the 57th minute.

France forward Kylian Mbappe has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and will miss this week's Nations League international against Croatia, the French football federation (FFF) said on Monday.

"Given that the result of his COVID-19 test carried out by UEFA on Monday morning showed up as positive, he was removed from the rest of the squad after the results came through following training, and then returned to his home later in the evening," the French football body said on its website.

Three Paris Saint-Germain players have tested positive for COVID-19, the Ligue 1 club said on Wednesday.

The club declined to comment when contacted by Reuters about the identity of the players but French sports daily L'Equipe reported Neymar, Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes tested positive after returning from Ibiza.

In a strictly sporting sense, the worst part of the pandemic was definitely the postponement of Euro 2020. On the one hand it deprived us of a month-long carnival of joy (the expanded 2016 tourney was thrilling with Wales and Iceland getting out of pocket and Portugal claiming top prize despite winning only one match in regular time), and on the other it reminded us of how dumb it is to host a major international tournament in 12 different countries (Did you ask for this? I didn’t ask for this).

But the countdown is once again on with Euro 2020 Part Deux just 283 days away!

France intend to give 17-year-old Eduardo Camavinga his first caps over the next week when they meet Sweden and Croatia in the Nations League, coach Didier Deschamps said on Monday.

The teenage midfielder, who earned rave reviews in his first full Ligue 1 season with Rennes, received a call-up for Saturday’s match in Stockholm and next Tuesday’s clash at the Stade de France after Paul Pogba withdrew after testing positive for the COVID-19 virus.

Lyon secured its fifth straight Champions League title on Sunday after an entertaining 3-1 win over Wolfsburg to cement its place as the greatest dynasty in the history of the women's club game. 

With seven titles overall, no team comes close to matching Lyon’s total (Frankfurt has four), and it says everything about the club's European dominance of late that all those victories have been recorded over the past 10 seasons.

Chelsea have bolstered their defence by bringing in Thiago Silva, with the former Paris St Germain centre back signing a one-year contract plus an option of a further 12 months, the English Premier League club announced on Friday.

The 35-year-old Brazilian defender joins the west London club, coached by Frank Lampard, after eight seasons at PSG where he won seven Ligue 1 titles and five French Cups, making more than 300 appearances in all competitions.