Paris Saint-Germain, PSG, Paris or Paris SG, is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. France's most successful club, they have won over 40 official honours, including nine league titles and one major European trophy. Their home ground is the Parc des Princes.

Founded in 1970, the Parisians won their first major honour, the French Cup, in 1982 and their first Ligue 1 title in 1986. The 1990s was among the most successful periods in PSG's history; they claimed a second league, three French Cups, two French League Cups, two French Super Cups and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996.

After suffering a decline in fortunes during the 2000s, the Red and Blues have enjoyed a revival since 2011 with increased financial backing, achieving unparalleled dominance in domestic competitions, winning seven league titles and twenty national cups. PSG have also become a regular feature in the UEFA Champions League, reaching their first final in 2020.

PSG are the club with most consecutive seasons playing in the top-flight and one of only two French clubs to have won a major European title. They are also the most popular football club in France and one of the most widely supported teams in the world. PSG's home kit colours are red, blue and white, and the club's crest features the Eiffel Tower and a fleur de lys. PSG have a long-standing rivalry with Olympique de Marseille. The duo contest French football's most notorious match, known as Le Classique.

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, owns PSG through closed shareholders Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), which purchased the club in 2011. The takeover made PSG the richest club in France and one of the wealthiest in the world. As of the 2019–20 season, PSG have the seventh-highest revenue in the footballing world with an annual revenue of €541m according to Deloitte, and are the world's ninth-most valuable football club, worth $2.5bn according to Forbes.

Lille Olympique Sporting Club, commonly called LOSC, LOSC Lille, or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France. They are the current champions of Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. Lille has played its home matches since 2012 at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in nearby Villeneuve d'Ascq, which replaced the club's previous home of Stade Lille-Metropole.

Lille was founded as a result of a merger between Olympique Lillois and SC Fives in 1944. Both clubs were founding members of the French Division 1 and Lillois was the league's inaugural champions. Under the Lille emblem, the club has won four league titles (in 1946, 1954, 2011 and 2021) and six Coupe de France titles. Lille's most successful period was the decade from 1946 to 1956 when the team was led by managers George Berry and André Cheuva.

Lille has a long-standing rivalry with nearby club RC Lens, with whom they contest the Derby du Nord. The club is owned by Merlyn Partners SCSp, a Luxembourg based investment fund.

In just its first season back in the top flight 2000–01 French Division 1, Lille qualified for Europe for the first time in the club's history, booking its place in the 2001–02 Champions League. On the back of the club's new status, Lille entered into a decisive new era under the guidance of chairman and chief executive officer Michel Seydoux and coach Claude Puel. The club left the historical Stade Grimonprez-Jooris to join the Stadium Lille Métropole and became a regular on the European scene. Amongst its most emphatic results was the 1–0 victory over Manchester United at the Stade de France in 2005, the 2–0 triumph over Milan in San Siro in 2006 and the 1–0 home win over Liverpool in 2010. A steady development off the pitch (inauguration of the Domaine de Luchin training complex in 2007, opening of the Grand Stade in 2012), coupled with the sporting progression under the expert hand of coach Rudi Garcia, took Lille back to the summit of the French game with the League and Cup double in 2011 (56 years after the club's last trophy). In 2012, LOSC confirmed its place at the top table of the domestic game with another qualification for Europe's most prestigious club competition, the Champions League in 2012–13. With the club finishing just outside the UCL places that season, Garcia left to join Roma, while former Montpellier coach René Girard was appointed the new Lille manager.[3] After two years in charge of the club, Girard left his role as the head coach by mutual consent. He was joined by assistants Gerard Bernadet and Nicolas Girard in making the exit. In May 2015, the Ivory Coast national team head coach Hervé Renard was appointed as the new manager. On 11 November 2015, Renard was terminated as manager and was replaced by Frederic Antonetti. On 23 November 2016, a year after being appointed, Lille terminated Antonetti's contract with the club lying second last in the table.[6] In March 2017, Lille appointed Marcelo Bielsa as new manager of the club. In November 2017, Bielsa was suspended by Lille following an unauthorized trip to Chile with the club lying second from bottom on the table again and only managing 3 wins from the first 14 games of the season.

On 23 December 2017, Bielsa was terminated by Lille and replaced with former Saint-Etienne manager Christophe Galtier.[8] After a difficult 2017–2018 season, Lille managed to avoid relegation to Ligue 2 by defeating Toulouse 3–2 in the second last game of the campaign.

In the 2018–19 Ligue 1 season, Lille secured the second place to qualify for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage, they returned to the competition after a seven-year absence. Two seasons later, in the 2020–21 season, Lille won their first Ligue 1 title in 10 years and the fourth overall in club history under the guidance of Christophe Galtier.

Stade Rennais Football Club, commonly referred to as Stade Rennais FC, Stade Rennais, Rennes, or simply SRFC, is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany. They compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and play their home matches at the Roazhon Park. The team's president is Nicolas Holveck, and its owner is Artémis, the holding company of businessman François Pinault.

Rennes was founded in 1901 under the name Stade Rennais and is one of the founding members of the first division of French football. Alongside Nantes, Rennes is one of the top football clubs in the region and the two are among the main clubs that contest the Derby Breton. The club's best finish in the league has been third, accomplishing this feat after the season was ended prematurely in 2019–20. Rennes has won three Coupe de France titles in 1965, 1971 and 2019. After winning the Coupe de France in 1971, Rennes changed its name to its current version.
Rennes' home colours are red shirts with black shorts and socks. They have a long-standing rivalry with fellow Breton club Nantes, with whom they contest the Derby Breton.

Rennes is known for its youth academy, known in English as the Henri Guérin Training Centre, which was formed in 2000. The French Football Federation (FFF) recognised Rennes as having the best youth academy in the country in 2010.[3] The cornerstone of the academy is the under-19 team, which has won the Coupe Gambardella three times in 1973, 2003 and 2008. The academy has produced several notable talents, such as Ousmane Dembélé, Yacine Brahimi, Eduardo Camavinga, Yoann Gourcuff, Yann M'Vila, Moussa Sow, Abdoulaye Doucouré, Sylvain Wiltord and Jimmy Briand.

In 1994, Rennes returned to Division 1 and entered a period of stability mainly due to the utilisation of the club's youth academy. Instead of entering bidding wars for players, Rennes groomed its youngsters and inserted them onto the senior team when coaches felt they were ready. This strategy proved successful with players such as Sylvain Wiltord, Jocelyn Gourvennec and Ulrich Le Pen. In 1998, the club was sold by the municipality to retail magnate François Pinault. Pinault invested a substantial amount of funding into the club and sought to increase Rennes' production of youth talent by constructing a training centre, which was completed in 2000. Pinault also paid for a completed re-construction of the stadium and also invested in the transfer market, recruiting several players from South America, most notably Lucas Severino, whom Rennes paid a record €21 million for.

The results were immediate in the decade from 2000 to 2010, with Rennes appearing in UEFA-sanctioned European competitions in five of the ten seasons. In youth production, the club produced several youth talents such as Yann M'Vila, Yacine Brahimi, Jimmy Briand and Abdoulaye Diallo, among others. In league competition, Rennes tied its best finish ever in the league by finishing fourth in 2004–05. Two seasons later, the club accomplished this feat again. In 2009, Rennes reached the Coupe de France final for the fourth time in its history. In the final, Rennes faced Breton rival Guingamp and was the heavy favourite. Despite taking the lead in the second half, however, Rennes was defeated 2–1 after Guingamp scored two goals in a ten-minute span. In 2014, Rennes made the Coupe de France final and once again their opponent was Guingamp. In a tense final, Rennes lost the match to their fierce rivals 2–0.[6] In the 2017–2018 Ligue 1 season, Rennes had one of their best campaigns in recent memory finishing 5th and qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.

In 2019, Rennes claimed its third Coupe de France win on 27 April. In the final, Rennes played Paris St Germain. The French Cup winners for the last four years were heavy favourites to beat Rennes having already been crowned Ligue 1 champions for the 2018–19 season on 21 April.[8] Rennes rallied back from two goals down to beat Paris St Germain 6–5 on penalties.

In 2019–20 season, Rennes finished third in Ligue 1 and qualified for 2020–21 UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history.