PARIS (AP) — Old rivals Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille come back to Ligue 1 with a sour taste after completing the Champions League phase.
Reigning European champion PSG was dull in attack in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle that dropped Luis Enrique's side out of the top eight and into the playoffs.
For Marseille, the 1993 Champions League winner, Wednesday evening was awful after losing 3–0 at Club Brugge and getting eliminated.
The lone bright spot among the French teams came from Monaco after the Principality club secured a playoffs spot by holding Juventus to a goalless draw.
PSG, which took control of Ligue 1 last week, will look to regroup at Strasbourg on Sunday. It's not an easy task as Strasbourg has been unbeaten since coach Gary O’Neil replaced Liam Rosenior following his fellow Englishman’s departure to Premier League club Chelsea.
Strasbourg, led by striker Joaquín Panichelli — who has has taken Ligue 1 by storm with 11 goals — thrashed Lille last weekend to climb to seventh place. It has lost just twice at home this season.
Lens, which slipped to second after losing at Marseille, hosts Le Havre on Friday. That defeat brought an end to Lens’ 10-game winning streak across all competitions.
“Frustration is a feeling we hadn’t experienced for quite some time,” Lens coach Pierre Sage said. "The most important thing is being able to bounce back.”
Third-place Marseille, five points behind Lens and seven adrift of PSG, will be eager to put behind its woeful night in Brugge when it travels to Paris FC on Saturday.
Marseille recruits Ethan Nwaneri and Quinten Timber had immediate impacts during their debut against Lens. Loan signing Nwaneri scored a superb goal against Lens while Timber, who signed from Feyenoord to June 2030, impressed in midfield in a box-to-box role. Unfortunately for coach Roberto De Zerbi, they are unavailable for the trip to Brugge.
Lens is plagued with injuries and will be missing Jhoanner Chávez, Arthur Masuaku, Samson Baidoo, Régis Gurtner and Jonathan Gradit.
PSG will be without star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who limped off with a right ankle injury against Newcastle on Wednesday. The club confirmed Thursday that he has suffered an ankle sprain and is expected to be sidelined for eight to 10 days.
U.S.-based Black Knight Football Club group became the sole shareholder of Lorient. The Black Knight consortium fronted by American businessman Bill Foley, which owns the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL, acquired a minority ownership interest in Lorient in January 2023 as part of its multi-club ownership strategy.
It also owns Premier League club Bournemouth, Moreirense FC in Portugal and Auckland FC in New Zealand.
The group is bringing more than $550 million in equity. Lorient is ninth in Ligue 1 after 19 matches and hosts Nantes on Saturday.
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Monaco's Folarin Balogun, centre, and Juventus' Pierre Kalulu challenge for the ball during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Monaco and Juventus in Monaco, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
Brugge's Romeo Vermant, right, celebrates after scoring his sides second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Club Brugge and Marseille in Bruges, Belgium, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Newcastle's Lewis Hall is challenged by PSG's Joao Neves, left, during a Champions League opening phase soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle in Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Iran fired missiles at Israel and some Gulf nations while explosions could be heard around Tehran and the central Iranian city of Isfahan on Friday, as the United States prepared to further reinforce its already significant military forces in the Middle East.
As the war that began Feb. 28 was to enter its sixth week, Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait warned about incoming missile fire, although it was unclear if anything was struck. Activists reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan but it wasn’t immediately clear what was hit.
Iran’s attacks on Gulf region energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing.
Oil prices surged while Asian financial markets rose moderately during cautious trading. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 11.4% to $111.54 a barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.8% to $109.03 per barrel.
U.S. President Donald Trump said U.S. forces will keep hitting Iran “very hard” in the next two or three weeks.
The largest American aircraft carrier in service sailed out of Split, in Croatia and “remains poised for full mission tasking in support of national objectives in any area of operation,” the Navy’s 6th Fleet announced.
It was unclear where it was going. The USS Abraham Lincoln remains in the Arabian Sea and the USS George H. W. Bush aircraft carrier departed Norfolk on Wednesday to head to the Mideast.
Here is the latest:
Oil prices continued to surge on worries of a prolonged Iran war but the Asian markets that were open Friday rose moderately in cautious trading, while others were closed for the Good Friday holidays.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 11.4% to $111.54 a barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.8% to $109.03 per barrel.
The U.S. only relies on the Persian Gulf for a fraction of the oil it imports, but oil is a commodity and prices are set in a global market.
The situation is very different in Asia. Japan, for example, relies on access to the Strait of Hormuz for much of the nation’s oil import needs and would need to rely on alternative routes. But some analysts say Japan and oher nations are counting on an agreement with Iran to allow transports.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.9% in Friday morning trading to 52,938.62. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.1% to 5,344.41. The Shanghai Composite sank 0.5% to 3,899.57. Trading was closed in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia and India.
Wall Street, where trading is closed Friday, finished its first winning week since the start of the Iran war, although trading started out with a decline driven by a surge in oil prices.
Bangladesh is curtailing office hours and enforcing early closure of malls and shops beginning Friday to handle its energy crisis related to the war.
The country’s cabinet ordered 30% spending cuts for fuel and power at government offices, suspended some staff training and stopped purchases of new vehicles, ships and aircraft. Decorative lighting will not be allowed for celebrations.
Bangladesh, a nation of more than 170 million people, is seeking alternative fuel sources and $2.5 billion in external financing for imports, which account for 95% of its fuel.
Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen on Friday urged motorists getting away for a long weekend during the Easter holiday to fill up in cities because most of the nation’s fuel shortages are in rural areas.
Among 2,400 gas stations in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, 182 had run out of diesel by Friday.
In Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, 76 gas stations were out of diesel. In the remaining states ranked by the most populous first, Queensland had 75 stations without diesel, Western Australia had 37, South Australia had 28 and in Tasmania there were seven.
“For those Australians planning a road trip this weekend, given our shortages are predominantly in rural and regional Australia, it makes sense to fill up in the city to help the country if you can,” Bowen said in Sydney.
The government, which blamed regional shortages on panic buying and distribution problems, is concentrating on delivering fuel to farmers for planting crops.
Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Members from the Popular Mobilization Forces attend a funeral of fighters who were killed in a U.S. airstrike, in Tal Afar, Nineveh province, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A man with burn wounds from an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon sits on a bed at the Sidon Government Hospital in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A boy who fled with his family following Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sits inside the van they are using as shelter in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
President Donald Trump arrives from the Blue Room to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
