Lyon hopes to lock up Champions League place

May 24, 2013 - 7:02 PM Lyon, France (Sports Network) - Lyon aims to close out its Ligue 1 campaign in style on Sunday as a win against 11th-place Rennes at the Stade de Gerland will ensure the club a place in next season's Champions League competition.

Lyon is currently in third place in Ligue 1 on 64 points, two clear of fourth- place St Etienne, but need to secure three points on the final match day of the season to claim a spot in Europe's most prestigious tournament.

Les Gones had an opportunity to lock up third place last week against fifth- place Nice at the Stade Municipal du Ray, but things started poorly for Lyon as defender Bakary Kone brought down Nice forward Dario Cvitanich in the penalty area 25 seconds into the second half and Ligue 1's third-leading scorer had no trouble dispatching the spot kick to put Les Aiglons ahead 1-0.

Lyon then went down to 10 men with 17 minutes to play when Maxime Gonalons was shown a second yellow card and sent off. But Clement Grenier came to Les Gones' rescue two minutes later when he blasted an expertly-struck free kick into the net to save a point for Lyon heading into Sunday's season-finale against Rennes.

However, St Etienne can steal the final Champions League place from Lyon, but needs a bit of help in order to do so. Les Verts must take all three points on Sunday on the road against Lille and hope that Lyon does no better than a draw with Rennes.

Also on the final day of Ligue 1, after captaining champions PSG to a 3-1 victory over Brest in his final home match at the Parc des Princes last weekend, David Beckham will bid farewell to professional football after Les Parisiens close out the season against Lorient.

Nice hopes to finish its season on a positive note with a victory over 16th- place Ajaccio, while Bastia will try to close out the season on a three-match winning streak when it hosts Sochaux at the Stade Armand-Cesari.

Bordeaux can end its season firmly entrenched in the top half of the table with a win over Evian at the Stade Chaban-Delmas, while Nancy can pull itself out of the relegation zone with a victory over Brest combined with a loss by Troyes against Valenciennes.

Marseille secured its second-place finish in Ligue 1 and a Champions League spot for next season last weekend and will try to end the season on a good note when the club hosts Reims at the Velodrome. Reims, meanwhile goes for its second consecutive win to close out the campaign.

Finally on Sunday, Toulouse will shoot for its second consecutive league win when the club hosts Montpellier at the Stade Municipal de Toulouse, while Valenciennes caps its season with a home match against Troyes.