Paris - Istres preview: One last push

Avant-match

Les Rouge et Bleu return to the Coubertin stadium on Wednesday to take on Istres as they look to stitch up a 12th French league title. Find out all you need to know about this Liqui Moly StarLigue Matchday 29 fixture.

Just one point

Almost a month after their last match in front of their home fans (a victory over Limoges marked by a tribute to Nikola Karabatic), Paris are finally back at Coubertin for this final week of competition. On the programme: Istres, on Wednesday, then the season wraps up against Chambery on Saturday. Les Rouge et Bleu were held to a 33-33 draw at Montpellier last weekend and now need just a single point to officially clinch the 12th French league title in club history. Raul Gonzalez's men will be keen to secure the trophy on Wednesday against a team in a more or less similar situation.

Your tickets for Paris - Istres ! 

While there's no way a point could hand Istres the title, a share of the spoils could clinch top-flight survival for the promoted side from Provence. Istres, who were on a four-game losing streak going into their clash with relegation rivals Créteil, got a scare against the Paris-region club last time out. Trailing by three goals with ten minutes left, the Violets dug deep in front of their home crowd and took a major step towards staying up. Now with a three-point lead over their opponents on the night, who are currently 15th and in line for relegation, Gilles Derot's side can look forward to the final week with a little more optimism.

Romain Mathias, an imperious 'keeper

With 282 saves and a success rate of 29.94%, Romain Mathias has proven to be one of the revelations of this Liqui Moly StarLigue season. As the campaign draws to a close, only Joze Baznik (Aix, 333 saves) and Milan Bomastar (Chartres, 285 saves) have more saves to their names. The former Saint-Raphaël, Sarrebourg and Sélestat goalkeeper is having by far the best season of his career, and has put on a show on numerous occasions over the coursse of the campaign. In the first four games, apart from a difficult trip to Nantes (43-31), the 27-year-old goalkeeper proved to be an immovable object, making 16 saves against Ivry on the opening day (36-25), then 18 against Chambéry (34-31) and Cesson Rennes (28-33). The three massive performances were rewarded with three wins, all of which will be crucial as the season draws to a close.

Key stats

9. Istres have been shown nine red cards this season. No team has received more red cards than Istres in the league so far in 2024/25.

100. Against Montpellier, Kent Robin Tonnesen played his 100th match for the capital club.

147. Paris have made 147 interceptions so far this season. Only Nantes (153) have done better than Les Rouge et Bleu in this respect. Istres are close behind the capital club, with 127 interceptions.

900. Kamil Syprzak, who scored ten goals in the match, etched his name that much deeper into French top-flight legend by surpassing the 900-goal mark in the league.

Liqui Moly StarLigue Matchday 29 fixtures

Tuesday 3 June, 20:00

Nîmes - Montpellier

Tuesday 3 June, 20:30

Ivry - Saint-Raphaël 

Wednesday 4 June, 20:00

Chambéry - Nantes

Limoges - Aix

Paris - Istres at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin, broadcast on BeIn Sports 1 and to be followed on our live-tweet.

Toulouse - Dunkerque

Wednesday 4 June, 20:30

Cesson Rennes - Chartres

Créteil - Tremblay

(Credits: JM Hervio/Team Pics/PSG)