Beckham tears and Ibrahimovic joy as PSG are Ligue 1 champions

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Updated 20 May 2013
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Beckham tears and Ibrahimovic joy as PSG are Ligue 1 champions

PARIS: Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice while David Beckham produced an emotional Parc des Princes farewell as Ligue 1 champions Paris St. Germain beat bottom club Stade Brest 3-1 on a memorable night on Saturday. Sweden striker Ibrahimovic took his league tally this season to 29 goals, a personal best.
Former France forward Jean-Pierre Papin was the last player to hit 30 Ligue 1 goals in a season, for Olympique Marseille in 1989-90.
Ex-England skipper Beckham, who will retire at the end of the season, broke down in tears when he was substituted by Ezequiel Lavezzi in the 81st minute.
Beckham, who was named skipper against Brest, was hugged by his teammates as he left the pitch to a standing ovation having set up Blaise Matuidi for the second goal.
It was the former Manchester United midfielder’s 10th league appearance for PSG and it is not yet clear whether he will take part in the last game of the season at Lorient next weekend.
Beckham was the second-last player to get to the center of the pitch where the players and staff were presented with the league trophy.
’Hello, Goodbye’, a Beatles song, was played over the public address system as a film showed highlights of his time at the club before Beckham walked toward the podium with a St. George’s flag wrapped round his shoulders.
“I want to say thank you to everybody in Paris, to my team mates, to the staff, to the fans,” said the 38-year-old former Real Madrid and Los Angeles Galaxy player. “To finish my career here could not be any more special.
“I want to enjoy my family now, I have all the souvenirs I want now so I’m very, very happy. Merci Paris. I’m very sad to be leaving but thank you.” On Monday, title celebrations on the streets of Paris turned sour when 30 people were injured in clashes between fans and police in the west of the French capital but the atmosphere was good against relegated Brest.
Elsewhere, second from bottom Nancy were relegated after a 2-1 home defeat by Bastia left them five points from safety.
Emotions also ran high at Montpellier as Rene Girard, the coach who led them to their first Ligue 1 title last season, said farewell to the fans after announcing earlier this year that he was leaving.
Eighth-placed Montpellier drew 0-0 against Lille who are fifth and received a severe jolt to their hopes of playing in next season’s Champions League. With 61 points, Lille trail third-placed Olympique Lyon by two points.
Lyon, whose visit to sixth-placed Nice was put back 24 hours until Sunday due to heavy rain, are one point ahead of St. Etienne after Les Verts won 2-0 against Olympique Marseille.
Marseille are 10 points behind PSG and assured of second spot. The top two qualify for the Champions League while the team in third go through to the preliminary round of the competition.

Most of the PSG players had dyed their hair red and blue and started the game brightly against Brest in front of a crowd of 44,983 that included Beckham’s wife Victoria and mother Sandra.
Ibrahimovic put Carlo Ancelotti’s team ahead after five minutes with a cross shot after collecting a through ball from Clement Chantome.
Matuidi then volleyed in Beckham’s corner before Ibrahimovic made it 3-0 from a splendid free kick on 36 minutes.
Charlison Benschop pulled one back for Brest with nine minutes left.
Beckham joined PSG in January and although he made a minimal impact on the team, he won praise as a great professional and a friendly team mate.
“It was very emotional because of his career and the experience he brought to us,” said France center back Mamadou Sakho.

“He brought us his joie de vivre and his simplicity. He’s a very humble chap.”


Stuttgart rescues 3-3 draw as Bundesliga relegation scrap impacts Champions League race

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Stuttgart rescues 3-3 draw as Bundesliga relegation scrap impacts Champions League race

  • Stuttgart stayed fourth in the last qualification spot for Europe’s premier club competition, but it missed the chance to move four points above fifth-place Leipzig, held 2-2 by Borussia Dortmund on Saturday

BERLIN: Germany forward Deniz Undav scored late to salvage a 3-3 draw for Stuttgart at last-place Heidenheim as the Bundesliga’s relegation scrap and race for Champions League qualification converged on Sunday.
Stuttgart stayed fourth in the last qualification spot for Europe’s premier club competition, but it missed the chance to move four points above fifth-place Leipzig, held 2-2 by Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Heidenheim almost scored a late winner in stoppage time that would have narrowed the gap on second-last Werder Bremen to just three points before their clash in Bremen next weekend. Adam Kölle headed just wide in stoppage time for Heidenheim.
Chris Führich fired Stuttgart into an early lead before Eren Dinkci replied for Heidenheim.
Stuttgart’s Ermedin Demirović thought he had made it 2-1 on a counterattack but the goal was ruled out and a penalty awarded to Heidenheim after a VAR check found Maximilian Mittelstädt had fouled Dinkci in the area at the other end.
Arijon Ibrahimović converted Heidenheim’s penalty to make it 2-1 to the home team instead.
Mittelstädt atoned for conceding the spot kick by converting another penalty for 2-2 in the 44th.
Demirović had another goal ruled out through VAR for offside in the second half, and Heidenheim substitute Sirlord Conteh scored what he hoped was the winner in the 82nd after Ibrahimović’s initial effort was saved.
But Undav, also a substitute, equalized for Stuttgart in the 88th and almost got another in stoppage time when he was thwarted by Diant Ramaj in the Heidenheim goal.
Big points for St. Pauli
St. Pauli boosted its chances of survival with a 2-1 home win over relegation rival Bremen that lifted the Hamburg-based club above the visitors into the relegation playoff spot.
Japan midfielder Joel Chima Fujita scored what proved to be the winner with a low shot inside the far corner in the 70th, minutes after Jovan Milošević had drawn the visitors level.
Bremen’s third straight defeat under new coach Daniel Thioune stretched the team’s winless run to 13 games.
St. Pauli celebrated its back-to-back wins at home after surprising Stuttgart 2-1 in the 21st round.
Freiburg up to seventh
Matthias Ginter and Igor Matanović scored as Freiburg beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 and moved to seventh.
Freiburg stretched its winning streak at home to five games across all competitions, while Gladbach’s winless run stretched to seven matches.