The Qatari empire meets the Aulas legacy

Paris Saint-Germain welcomes Olympique Lyonnais to the Parc des Princes for what we used to call a TITLE DECIDER back when the league wasn't just a vanity project for various sovereign wealth funds. These days, it is more like a clash between a team that buys every shiny toy in the window and a team that is still trying to remember where they parked the bus.

Luis Enrique’s PSG currently sits comfortably at the summit with 63 points from 27 games, largely because they have Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele running at defenders who look like they’ve been pulled out of a Sunday league retirement home. Despite the occasional lapse in concentration—usually occurring when the players are dreaming about their next luxury watch—Paris remains the undisputed heavyweight champion of a league they’ve essentially turned into their personal playground.

Lyon, sitting in 5th place with 51 points, has managed to stop the bleeding that saw them flirting with the relegation zone earlier in the decade. They are actually playing something resembling football again, thanks to Pavel Sulc’s 11 goals and a midfield that finally realized passing to their own teammates is a REVOLUTIONARY concept. They are currently in the hunt for European spots, though knowing Lyon, they’ll probably follow up a brilliant win with a 3-0 loss to a team that doesn't even have a Wikipedia page.

The strategy for Lyon is simple: pray that Gianluigi Donnarumma has one of those games where his hands turn into flippers and hope that Kylian Mbappe—wait, he’s gone, right? No matter, the Parisian bench still costs more than most European nations' GDP. Expect PSG to dominate possession while Lyon sits back and tries to hit on the break with the speed of a startled gazelle.

Paris will probably switch off for twenty minutes to check their Instagram notifications, allowing Lyon to think they have a chance, before inevitably slamming the door shut with a late goal that leaves the away fans questioning why they spent six hours on a train.

Prediction: Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 Olympique Lyonnais