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Preview: Monaco head to Montpellier, LOSC host Nice
Two of Ligue 1 McDonald's Champions League participants will be in action on Friday evening, as Monaco travel across the French Riviera to face bottom side Montpellier. Meanwhile, Lille will play host to OGC Nice at the Stade Pierre Mauroy. There's a lot riding on both results, as we head into the second half of the season.
Monaco vs Montpellier: Les Monégasques hoping for return to form vs MHSC
Adi Hütter's AS Monaco travel to bottom side Montpellier hoping to put an end to a three-game winless run which has seen Les Monégasques drop to third in the league. They face an MHSC side that have 12 defeats from their 17 Ligue 1 games this season. Hütter and his men will be desperate to get the job done against Montpellier, as failing to win on Friday evening would see them go on their longest winless away run in almost three years.
"We're not happy, yes. We need to do better, yes, but we can do it," said Monaco manager Adi Hütter during his pre-match press conference. "We need to stay positive, communicate in a positive way and believe in our style of play to get through this as quickly as possible. There's no point in always talking about what's going wrong. It's not the first time I've had a bit of trouble, but I've got experience and it tells me to stay cool and believe in my players."
Lille vs OGC Nice: European hopes hinge on clash between fourth and fifth
Fourth meets fifth in a showdown which could have big ramifications for the battle for European football by the end of the season. Franck Haise's side sit just one point in front of Les Dogues in the table, after Bruno Génésio's men drew their last three Ligue 1 McDonald's matches in a row. Lille just came off the back of knocking Marseille out of the Coupe de France, whilst Nice had to navigate a difficult derby affair with SC Bastia.
Lille are now 20 games unbeaten in all competitions, with 13 of them coming in Ligue 1, their longest in the league since when they were reigning champions in 2011. If they avoid defeat they will break a record which hasn't been beaten for over four decades.
"It's the first big clash of the year, but the first three games of 2025 weren't easy ones either," said Franck Haise in his pre-match press conference. "We're trying to recover well, because our games are intense. We've got a great challenge ahead of us: to get as positive a result as possible against Lille, who, it turns out, are extremely consistent."
"20 games unbeaten in all competitions, with 4 Champions League games in between, proves the high level of this team. We want to keep moving forward, show as much solidity as possible, and then keep creating the game, creating chances, creating goals.”
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