This weekend was supposed to be a coronation for PSG, one that seemed inevitable given their relentless pace, particularly at the Parc des Princes. Things did not go to plan, however, as a buoyant Strasbourg attack and a howler of a miss from Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting combined to prevent Les Parisiens from getting the necessary three points to win the title. Kylian Mbappé only featured from the bench owing to a muscular issue, laying bare once more the club’s over-reliance on individual brilliance – Ángel Di María and Neymar were also missing with injury – but the result will ultimately prove inconsequential as the club continues to be restructured under Thomas Tuchel.

With Strasbourg having kept the confetti at bay, it seems a good time to look at the other subplots that have been burbling away in recent weeks. Second-place Lille, who are five points above Lyon and, crucially, 11 points above Saint-Étienne with seven matches to play, have all but sewn up a top-three spot. Lyon’s six-point lead over Saint-Étienne should also be enough to take them into the Champions League, given that their local rivals still face tricky fixtures against Nice, Montpellier and Reims.

Strasbourg’s surprise victory in the Coupe de la Ligue means that only the top five clubs in Ligue 1 will earn a place in Europe this season (provided that Rennes don’t upset PSG in the Coupe de France final later this month). Every club in the top half of the table still has ambitions of playing in Europe next season and this weekend’s fixtures showed how anxious the battle will be over the last seven weeks of the season. None of the top six clubs won this weekend, which was good news for Nice, who beat Montpellier and leapfrogged them in the table to wholeheartedly join the battle for the top five.

Nice looked adrift when Mario Balotelli left in January but they have proven surprisingly resolute. Their 1-0 win over Montpellier was their ninth by that scoreline this season. Patrick Vieira has re-jigged his side tactically, switching to a 4-3-3 in recent weeks, but their ethos remains the same: they sit deep in their own half, prioritise possession and use Youcef Atal and Allan Saint-Maximin’s incandescent ability on the ball to break down opponents. It has not always been the prettiest, but they have the third-best defensive record in the division and their place in the table speaks for itself. Their trip to Saint-Étienne in the penultimate weekend of the season looms large.

Reims continue to be the season’s quiet surprise, after the brilliant ascent of Lille, and while their match against Les Dogues was not a thriller, their defensive solidity and reliance on their brilliant young attackers – spearheaded by Rémi Oudin, who grabbed his 10th goal of the season – continues to be a recipe for success. Reims have lost just once in the league since early December. The side they are chasing, Marseille, looked limp and frustrated after their defeat to Bordeaux on Friday and their key man, Balotelli, is expected to face retrospective action and a lengthy ban for an off-the-ball elbow.

Saint-Étienne, meanwhile, reaffirmed their role as favourites for fourth this weekend, with attacking lynchpins Wahbi Khazri and Rémy Cabella combining for the Frenchman’s stoppage-time equaliser at Amiens. Rennes will be disappointed to have dropped two points in stoppage time but, if they win their match in hand on Tuesday, they will join what looks to be a thrilling sprint finish, with six teams within five points of each other in the battle for fourth and fifth place.

The margins separating the clubs in the race for Europa League spots are fine, but the relegation battle looks equally nerve-jangling. Dijon responded to their frustrating 1-0 defeat to Nice last weekend with a 3-1 win at Lyon on Saturday. Now there is just one point separating the bottom three (the highest of whom will face a play-off against a side from Ligue 1). Dijon’s weekend got even better when fit-again Stevan Jovetic scored a last-minute equaliser for Monaco against Guingamp later on Saturday evening. Had the Montenegrin international not found the back of the net, Guingamp would be in the play-off spot rather than Dijon.

Caen, who sit between Dijon and Guingamp in 19th place, may hold the whip hand in the battle to avoid the drop. They stumbled at Nîmes this weekend, conceding twice in the last five minutes to lose 2-0, but they still have to play both of the clubs they are fighting against. Make no mistake, whether at the fringes of Europe or battling to stay in the top flight, there remains plenty of intrigue in Ligue 1, no matter how quickly PSG retain the title.

Talking points

• Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s season in Paris has been eventful. Having incurred fan frustration and whistles for some ponderous play earlier in the year, he has since, surprisingly, ascended towards cult-hero status. His likable popularity among fellow players has led to his name being sung with gusto by PSG fans – and sometimes Kylian Mbappé too when he’s sitting on the bench at the Parc des Princes. An unfathomable miss in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Strasbourg perhaps only enhanced the Legend of Choupo. Standing almost in the goal and completely unchallenged, Choupo-Moting managed to slice Christopher Nkunku’s goal-bound shot along the line, on to the post and out for Strasbourg to clear. “I hesitated. I asked myself if I was offside, everything went very quickly,” the PSG forward said afterwards, as social media coined a new phrase: “Doing a Choupo.” A win would have secured another PSG title; they will have to wait at least another week: a trip to second-place Lille awaits next.

• As discussed in last week’s column, Lyon were on the verge of offering embattled coach Bruno Génésio a new two-year deal. However, that offer disappeared on Tuesday night after their lacklustre 3-2 defeat to Rennes in the Coupe de France semi-final, with the club revealing that the extension was apparently dependent on Lyon making the cup final and finishing in the top three in Ligue 1. Instead, President Jean-Michel Aulas announced – as the two men sat together at a painfully awkward press conference – that a decision will be taken at the end of the season. With Lyon fans, who have long sought Génésio’s sacking, furious, their disastrous 3-1 home defeat to relegation-threatened Dijon was played out in a toxic atmosphere. One banner read: “Players, you dream of being somewhere else? Go and soil someone else’s colours,” and “oles” were heard from the home crowd as Dijon kept possession with the game won. Génésio had refused to comment on whether he would accept any subsequent new deal in the summer, even implying that he may not: “I am going to leave the club like I found it – in the Champions League.” With Lyon in disarray, that target could yet slip away.

Ligue 1 table