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Liverpool's chase of Premier League leaders Manchester United might have taken another twist at the weekend, but France's Ligue 1 has emerged as the closest-run championship in Europe with every team bar one in either a title or relegation battle.

The Reds followed up their 4-1 win at Old Trafford with a 5-0 drubbing of Aston Villa, while United went down at Fulham. Sir Alex Ferguson's men still have a game and a point in hand over their historic rivals, but the talk is of a wide-open race for the trophy Liverpool have failed to win in 18 years.

But seven teams are in with a realistic chance of winning France's top flight, while 10 could still go down - assuming that bottom club Le Havre are already doomed.

Take a look at the standings link under the photo.

With nine games left, only eighth-placed Nice have nothing to play for. And when we say "nothing", we exclude the Europa or Intertoto Cup slots which they still have an outside chance at reaching.

Last weekend, the lead of Le Championnat was a hot potato that burnt the hands of Lille, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Marseille before settling in the sweaty, calloused palm of seven-times champions Lyon.

Even though Rennes' disappointing draw at home to Valenciennes left them eight points off the leaders, they have a more-than-decent shot at Champions League qualification and - if they beat Bordeaux, Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille - could be right back in the title shake-up.

Les Gones returned to the summit of France's Ligue 1 after a 2-0 defeat of Sochaux snapped a three-match winless streak.

It is perhaps the folly of their decision to dispense with the services of Gerard Houllier for failing to truly challenge in Europe that has led to this tightening of the standings.

Since Houllier's departure two years ago, OL have seen their traditional dominance gradually diminish with each season: 15 and 17-point winning margins in 2006 and 2007 were cut to five points last season and, right now, their lead stands at just one.

Players have left, confidence has dropped and - Karim Benzema aside - the squad has aged.

The man who helped establish the Stade Gerland side's dominance, Paul Le Guen, is another key player in this French resurgence by the mere token of having made PSG competitive again.

The only professional club in the capital since the decline of Stade Francais, Red Star and Racing Paris, their re-emergence as title contenders took a blow with consecutive defeats to Marseille and Toulouse, which in turn put those sides in great positions to bring the title down south.

But the fact that PSG are even in the mix has helped motivate other traditional also-rans and lends credence to the theory that, given time, Le Guen could have made Rangers a European force again.

Usual bridesmaids Bordeaux are right up there too, in third and with a tasty home clash with Lyon to look forward to.

Les Girondins finished runners-up twice in the past three seasons but never before have they been so close to Lyon at this late stage. And - Rennes and the leaders aside - all the other teams they face are battling the drop.

The message to Laurent Blanc's team is clear: beat Lyon and you could win this.

Saying 'at the other end of the table' would be somewhat duplicitous here, given that the relegation scrap starts two places behind Rennes, with ninth-placed Auxerre.

On 37 points, AJA are only three defeats away from being sucked into the bottom three with a meagre six points separating 11th and 18th.

There are some big clubs down there too, with Monaco (10th) not safe and Saint-Etienne - who only recently went out of the UEFA Cup at the last-16 stage - in the drop zone.

It is a glorious, nail-biting mess where everyone plays everyone and - given some of the defending seen in France this season - anything could happen.

Reda Maher / Eurosport