Raphaël Jucobin

Bielle-Biarrey and France power past Italy to keep Six Nations grand slam plans on track Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored in a record eighth consecutive Six Nations match in France’s 33-8 Six Nations victory against Italy

France managed to slice through Italy at the start and at the end of the game, but in the 60 minutes in-between the visitors gave them their toughest challenge so far this year.

Match report from Lille yesterday:

France miraculously escaped with a draw when they last faced Italy in Lille, two years ago

If Italy’s performance against Ireland is anything to go by, it could be a similarly close game here tonight

Picked Gaël Dréan as a player to watch from France for this preview – he earns his first cap today as a result of a backline reshuffle following Jalibert’s injury

Ramos returns to 10 and Attissogbe takes his place at 15

PSG with the chance to reclaim top spot by beating Metz after Lens slipped up against Monaco earlier today; Dro Fernández given his first start since signing from Barcelona

Roof closed here in Lille for tomorrow’s France v Italy match

As ordered by the court, PSG have now published the ruling in full on their website:

Fabien Brau-Boirie with a fantastic debut, there’s a lot of competition in terms of French centres but wouldn’t be surprising to see him start more matches

Aleksander Čeferin on Infantino's comments about ending Russia's suspension:

"I think this story became big for no special reason. He said we should look into it — of course, we should look into everything."

“I don’t want to enter into disputes. UEFA’s position is clear and has not changed.”

Nasser Al-Khelaifi is asked at the UEFA congress about the World Cup broadcasting controversy in France (which saw beIN win the rights over Ligue 1+):

“Yesterday was a historic day for European football [referencing the UEFA-Real Madrid agreement]. I’m not interested in talking about conflicts.”

📍Brussels

UEFA’s annual congress and Nations League draw taking place here today

Hard to see Ntamack getting his starting spot back straight away – what a first half from Jalibert

Minutes to go until this year’s #SixNations kicks off with France v Ireland in Paris

Antoine Dupont making his return to international rugby here tonight, nearly a year on from suffering a knee injury against this very team

The essential Six Nations preview | The Observer Rugby journalists from each of the competing nations share their previews and predictions for this year’s tournament, which begins on Thursday

As expected, it's a Dupont-Jalibert pairing for France for Thursday's #SixNations opener against Ireland

An in-form and UBB-heavy backline even with Penaud out, as Attissogbe takes his spot

Previewed what to expect from the holders, who remain favourites despite major absences, for The Observer:

Appeared on @France24_en to discuss last night's Champions League action

Disappointing night for French teams, but one that showed the merits of the new format even if the increased workload for players is an issue — as PSG's tired performances in the last few weeks have shown

Paris St-Germain: Why are Champions League holders struggling to hit top form? European champions PSG face Newcastle in the Champions League on Wednesday - but why have Luis Enrique's side not been at their best so far this term?

✒️ Ahead of tonight's Champions League clash against Newcastle, I analysed why Paris Saint-Germain have been struggling to replicate last season's treble-winning form for BBC Sport:

Mané deservedly got to lift the trophy, but the Afcon final will be remembered for other reasons – VAR controversy, Senegal’s walk-off, and a puzzling penalty

Chaos around the pitch as well – Senegal fans tried to invade the pitch, Diouf attacked while protecting Mendy’s towel, journalists arguing…

Kick-off in 90 minutes and the closing ceremony preparations are underway, now that both teams have familiarised themselves with the pitch

The small but vocal contingent of Senegal supporters have been here for a few hours already

#AFCON2025

AFCON final preview | Present and future of Ligue 1 face off in blockbuster finale - Get French Football News "I think he made that announcement in the heat of the moment. The rest of the country does not agree," Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw said of Sadio Mané's

🇸🇳🇲🇦 Tonight’s #AFCON2025 final could be decided by one of this year’s breakout Ligue 1 forwards off the bench: Hamza Igamane for Morocco, and Ibrahim Mbaye for Senegal

It’s been a very enjoyable and rewarding three weeks covering the tournament in Morocco – all set up for a thrilling finale:

The AFCON Review | Morocco and Senegal advance to set up blockbuster final in Rabat - Get French Football News All eyes will be on Mané again on Sunday in Rabat, in what will be Senegal's first match outside of Tangier. A perplexing suspension rule, however, means that

In a tournament which has seen virtually no upsets, it stands to reason that the final would feature the top two seeds – the hosts are now on the cusp of their first title in half a century

Morocco and Senegal meet at the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time ever on Sunday

#AFCON2025

Just over 90 minutes to go until kickoff and the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium is filling up

The big screen alternating between Senegal v Egypt and footage of the Nigeria squad arriving – the latter met with booing from the locals

#AFCON2025

Spilling that cross was an uncharacteristic error from Djigui Diarra, who had been very reliable for Mali so far in the tournament – Ndiaye on hand to capitalise and put Senegal ahead

Liam Rosenior: ‘Coaching abroad, nobody has any preconceived idea of who you are’ Englishman has made a big impression since taking over at Strasbourg, who are now aiming to end PSG’s unbeaten run

I also interviewed the man himself last year – he cites Arsène Wenger and Roberto De Zerbi as influences:

Noël, coal and control: Strasbourg’s festive blip strikes again as Rosenior feels heat English manager says ‘it’s not the time to panic’ but Alsace club want a return on their €100m+ summer investment

With Liam Rosenior joining Chelsea, here's my analysis from a few weeks ago on his struggles at Strasbourg in the first half of the season:

PSG and Paris FC are just 44 metres apart but they live in different worlds Paris FC put up a good fight at the Parc des Princes on Sunday but this derby does not yet feel like a rivalry

Took a break from AFCON coverage to write about the Paris derby for this week’s Guardian/GFFN column

The PSG/Paris FC rivalry has now been revived, but remains cordial for now:

AFCON Review | Which Ligue 1 players have impressed during the group stage? - Get French Football News It's the former Lens man Gaël Kakuta who stole the show against Botswana, with two goals and a sensational backheel assist, but DR Congo's captain has been an

With the Round of 16 kicking off today — I'm in Casablanca for Mali v Tunisia — here's a look at the Ligue 1 players who have impressed at AFCON so far:

DR Congo narrowly miss out on top spot in their group, but what a performance tonight from Gaël Kakuta against Botswana – two goals and an inspired backheel assist for Mbuku

#AFCON

Tanzania fight back in the second half to get a draw (not exactly against the run of play) and qualify for the last 16 with three points

An uninspiring Tunisia will take on Mali next

Tunisia lead at half-time thanks to an Ismael Gharbi penalty, after a refereeing decision which was much-contested by Tanzania

The former PSG man has been his team’s best player, making some nice incisive runs from midfield

Nearly a perfect evening for Morocco with those two late chances for Hakimi, denied by a great save from Mwanza

Another overhead kick goal by El Kaabi, his second of the competition! Incredible scenes after the VAR check confirmed the goal