Paris Saint-Germain continued their dominance in Ligue 1 after lifting their 11th league title as Lionel Messi scored in a 1-1 draw away at Strasbourg.

Kevin Gameiro scored an equaliser after Messi scored the first goal, but the result gave PSG a four-point lead over second-placed Lens that they can’t lose with one game left in the season.

Saint-Etienne won 10 titles in 1981, which was the previous record. PSG tied that record a year ago under former coach Mauricio Pochettino.

It is PSG’s ninth title in the last 11 seasons, when Qatari ownership has made them the best team in France.

PSG started the second-to-last weekend of the season six points ahead of Lens, who was their closest rival, with only six points to play for and a much better goal difference.

In the end, they only needed a tie to be officially crowned champions, and Lens’s 3-0 win over Ajaccio, which had already been kicked out of the league, made that happen.

Messi put PSG ahead just before the hour mark with his 16th Ligue 1 goal of the season, which was set up by Kylian Mbappe.

Gameiro, who used to play for Paris, tied the game with 11 minutes left by putting in the rebound after Morgan Sanson’s shot was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

In the end, the draw was good for both teams because it helped Strasbourg stay in the top division.

PSG had a great start to the season and didn’t lose any games before the World Cup.

They lost six of their first 17 league games in 2023, and Bayern Munich knocked them out of the Champions League and the French Cup in the same round.

Because of these results, there is more talk that coach Christophe Galtier, who won the title with Lille two years ago, will be fired at the end of the season.

Photo by EPA/TERESA SUAREZ