Marseille's prolific attack faces in-form Lille in Ligue 1

PARIS (AP) — The two highest scoring teams in Ligue 1 face off on Friday when nine-time champion Marseille travels north to take on Lille.

Marseille missed the chance to move to the top of the standings last weekend after being held to a home draw. On a four-match unbeaten run across all competitions, it has another opportunity to take the lead with a win.

Roberto De Zerbi's Marseille sits third in the table, two points behind leader Lens. Lille is in fourth place, five points off the pace.

With 35 goals in 14 matches, Marseille boasts one of the best attacking records in Europe this season and its highest tally at this stage in the French top flight since 1970. Lille is also enjoying positive momentum, having won its past three matches across competitions.

Leader Lens plays at Nantes on Saturday on the back of a 2-1 win at Angers that moved the club to the top of the standings for the first time in 21 years.

Following its second loss of the season at Monaco, second-placed Paris Saint-Germain is at home against Rennes before a trip to Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League next week.

Florian Thauvin's flair and efficiency have been crucial assets for Lens.

The 2018 World Cup winner is enjoying a revival since his return to the league from Italian side Udinese this summer. The 32-year-old winger has four goals, including a brace last weekend, and produced two assists.

His performances have earned him a recall for France following a six-year absence. If he continues to impress there are good chances he will be playing at another World Cup next summer.

“What is new today is being top of the league,” Thauvin said. "But it is way too early to get carried away. Will we be able to compete with PSG? We’ll see.”

PSG said on Thursday that goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier is still nursing a right ankle injury. Chevalier was injured in the loss against Monaco after a violent tackle from Lamine Camara. PSG is also missing Désiré Doué, Nuno Mendes, Achraf Hakimi and Lucas Beraldo.

Nice made headlines for the wrong reasons this week after shocking acts of violence from its fans. After a sixth consecutive loss across all competitions on Sunday, players and staff were assaulted when they returned to the club’s training and academy center.

The players have criticized the failure to guarantee their protection. “Given the context, the number of supporters present, and their obvious hostility, the measures put in place were largely insufficient to ensure the safety of the players, staff, and all those involved in the match,” they said.

They also rued a perceived “lack of recognition of the seriousness of the situation, as well as the limited moral support — both individually and publicly — given to the players who were injured.”

Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, said on Thursday that “an appropriate security setup was put in place on Sunday evening as soon as he was informed of a risk of disturbance upon the arrival of the OGC Nice bus.”

Nice faces Angers at home on Sunday.

“Security arrangements will also take into account the particular risks of disturbances between supporters and members of the OGC Nice club,” the prefecture said.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Nice's Melvin Bard reacts at the the end of the Europa League opening phase soccer match between FC Porto and Nice in Porto, Portugal, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)

PSG's Ousmane Dembele heads the ball during a Champions League opening phase soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Tottenham, in Paris, Wednesday, Nov.26, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Lille's Olivier Giroud, left, challenges for the ball with Dinamo's Scott McKenna during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between Lille and GNK Dinamo Zagreb in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, outside Lille, France, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

Marseille's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, right, celebrates after scoring a goal during a Champions League opening phase soccer match between Marseille and Newcastle United in Marseille, France, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The folksy wisdom and jokes that were a staple of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting for decades when Warren Buffett was leading the show will be missing Saturday, but shareholders still started lining up at midnight outside a Nebraska arena to listen to new CEO Greg Abel.

Attendance is down significantly this year with the arena only a little over half full as the meeting unfolded. That’s much different from the past few years when more than 40,000 attended to listen to the 95-year-old Buffett and — before his death in 2023, Buffett’s longtime partner Charlie Munger was always part of the fun. Buffett gave up the CEO title in January, but he remains chairman and did make a few comments during the meeting.

Saturday’s meeting began with a video tribute to Buffett and the company's history beginning with a clip showing the standing ovation Buffett received last year after he surprised shareholders by announcing that he would step down.

Abel then announced the symbolic move of retiring jerseys with Buffett’s and Munger’s names on them that will hang in the rafters of the arena.

Buffett took the microphone briefly to praise Abel and recognize Apple CEO Tim Cook, who attended the meeting. Buffett said Abel has done a tremendous job so far, and Cook helped Berkshire's initial $35 billion investment in Apple grow to be worth $185 billion today.

“Greg is doing everything I did and then some,” Buffett said, so his decision to step down has worked out great so far.

Abel has been on stage next to the legendary investor for several years, but this is his first time running the show. Investors expect the conversation to focus more on how the dozens of companies Berkshire owns are doing. The conglomerate owns major insurers like Geico, several major utilities like Pacificorp, BNSF railroad and an assortment of manufacturers, retail and service businesses.

Signs of the transition are peppered throughout the 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall where shareholders buy products from Berkshire companies. A caricature of Abel playing his favorite sport of hockey is front and center on commemorative boxes of See’s Candy. At the Pilot Travel Center booth, pictures of Abel and Buffett are plastered on a semitrailer truck windshield, but Abel is in the driver’s seat. And this year Jazwares created a Squishmallow version of Abel to go with the latest versions of Buffett and Munger as stuffed dolls that shareholders lined up to buy.

“Sadly we miss Warren and Charlie and that show which was fun, but it’s a business meeting for a lot of us and hearing what the businesses are doing is what it’s all about,” investor Chris Bloomstran, who is president of Semper Augustus Investments Group said.

But also many people travel to Omaha primarily to meet up with like-minded value investors, who practice the approach that Buffett employed, and attend some of the investment conferences and meetings that are scheduled around Berkshire’s shareholder meeting.

“That’s why I’m really here, really here is to network with other people,” said Bob Robotti, who runs his own investment company. He doesn’t expect surprises from Abel and the other Berkshire executives at the meeting. “They shouldn’t say anything that would be shocking and surprising because they’re consistent with what they do.”

Abel opened the meeting with a detailed discussion of how Berkshire's biggest businesses are performing. He gave a granular explanation about the performance of Berkshire’s insurers, its railroad and its utilities. He talked about how Berkshire is using artificial intelligence “to solve problems at our companies.” But he stressed over and over that Berkshire's basic approach will not change, and he won't feel pressured to spend the company's nearly $400 billion in cash prematurely.

“One of our greatest strengths at Berkshire is patience and being disciplined at allocating our capital,” Abel said. “We’re not anxious to deploy capital into subpar opportunities.”

Vice Chairman Ajit Jain said Berkshire would be willing to insure ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz, but “the short answer is it depends on the price.” He said Berkshire must get the right rate and the U.S. Navy will have to escort those ships.

Many investors are watching closely for any changes Abel might make, but there’s not a lot of reason expect anything big. After all, Abel has been with Berkshire for more than 25 years, and he had already been managing all of the conglomerate’s noninsurance businesses for nearly eight years by the time he was promoted. Abel has promised to maintain Berkshire’s culture that trusts the CEOs of all of its businesses to largely run their day-to-day operations.

The CEOs of Dairy Queen, See’s Candy, Jazwares and Brooks Running all said very little has changed since Abel was promoted other than they now report to NetJets CEO Adam Johnson who is overseeing 32 retail and service businesses.

“I think this is a very deeply rooted culture that Warren has created, and I believe the transition to Greg is going to be rooted in those values that Warren has for 60 years instituted and will continue,” Brooks CEO Dan Sheridan said.

For years Buffett always said he was having too much fun running Berkshire to ever retire, but once the shock of his announcement in the final minutes of last years meeting wore off the company’s executives quickly agreed this plan for the transition was better so Buffett can still be around to advise Abel.

“Berkshire is as strong today as it’s ever been and Warren is still part of it,” DQ CEO Troy Bader said as his staff sold Dilly Bars to shareholders. “Warren is still present. So that’s the greatest combination right now, to be able to have that transition in leadership where Greg and Warren can still work together.”

Abel is known to be a more demanding and hands-on boss than Buffett ever was, but he does that by challenging Berkshire’s CEOs to strengthen their competitive advantages while taking care of their customers. Abel asks tough questions and offers advice that his CEOs appreciate, but he doesn’t tell them exactly what to do.

And with Buffett remaining Berkshire’s chairman and its largest shareholder it’s unlikely that Abel will make any drastic changes. So shareholders shouldn’t expect Berkshire to start paying a dividend or that Abel will suddenly split the company up.

Robotti said the performance of Berkshire’s businesses should be much more important to shareholders than the entertainment value of the annual meetings.

“My hope and expectation are they’re picking people who have competency in running a business and not necessarily public speakers and presenters,” Robotti said.

Berkshire said Saturday morning that its profits more than doubled in the first-quarter to $10.1 billion, or $7,027 per Class A share, as the value of its investments grew and most of its businesses improved.

The paper value of Berkshire’s investments always has a major impact on its bottom line, and it did record a $5.8 billion gain on the stocks it did sell. The value of the portfolio did slip to just over $288 billion.

Berkshire’s massive cash pile continues to grow, and it hit $397.4 billion at the end of the first quarter.

Most of Berkshire’s varied businesses reported better operating earnings this year. The insurance unit that includes Geico and a number of other companies reported an underwriting profit of $1.7 billion, up from $1.34 billion last year. Profits also grew somewhat at BNSF railroad and Berkshire’s utility and manufacturing companies.

But Abel acknowledged there is more improvement needed — especially at BNSF.

Portraits of Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, left, and CEO Greg Abel sit in a semi truck at the Pilot display in the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Shareholders arrive inside the CHI Health Center Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Shareholders enter the CHI Health Center Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Shareholder Anna Larsen, 16, left, of Underwood, Iowa, poses for photo with her friend Ainsley Roberts, 17, in the Hello Kitty portion of the Squishmallows display in the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Shareholder Alex Vacca of Milwaukee poses for a photo in a foam hat in the Justin display od the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Author and former Omaha World-Herald reporter Steve Jordan signs copies of his book at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders event on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

A Berkshire Hathaway shareholder takes a selfie in front of a Pilot truck stops semi truck with pictures of Berkshire's top two executives behind the wheel: new CEO Greg Abel and Chairman Warren Buffett on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

Berkshire Hathaway shareholders stand in line to purchase Squishmallows versions of the company's top executives: CEO Greg Abel, Chairman Warren Buffett and former Vice Chairman Charlie Munger on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

Berkshire Hathaway shareholders line up to buy products at the Pampered Chef booth behind a cutout of longtime CEO Warren Buffett who stepped down in January on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

Shareholders line up to take pictures with depictions of Berkshire Hathaway's new CEO Greg Abel and Chairman Warren Buffett on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)