Marseille warm-up for Reds
Marseille warmed up for Tuesday's do-or-die Champions League clash against Liverpool with a 2-0 win over Monaco in the French championship on Saturday.
The win, their fifth of the season, also eased Marseille's relegation fears.
Central defender Julien Rodriguez, in the 53rd minute, and skipper Lorik Cana (70), both scored headed goals as Marseille moved up to 11th in the table ahead of Saturday's later matches.
A win on Tuesday will put Marseille into the knockout rounds of the Champions League.
Coach Eris Gerets praised the support his team received on Saturday and said their backing will prove crucial at the Stade Velodrome against Liverpool.
"There's been a change in the behaviour of our fans," said Gerets.
"I'm pleasantly surprised by the support we had throughout the 90 minutes. On Tuesday, against Liverpool, we will need even a little more."
Meanwhile, six-time champions Lyon, who travel to Rangers on Wednesday in another must-win Champions League clash, slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Caen.
The loss cut their lead to four points with second-place Nancy unable to take full advantage by playing to a dull 0-0 draw at Valenciennes.
With one eye on the tricky trip to Glasgow, Lyon coach Alain Perrin put vital players Juninho, Sydney Govou and Karim Benzema on the bench and handed Nadir Belhadj, Abdul Kader Keita and Milan Baros starting places.
Caen took full advantage of the champions' uncertainty with Yoan Gouffran scoring the only goal of the game after 17 minutes after a misunderstanding between Sebastien Squillaci and Cleber Anderson.
Juninho, Govou and Benzema were all introduced into the action late in the game but were unable to prevent Lyon from slipping to their fourth defeat of the season.
"We wanted a different result to boost our confidence ahead of the game in Glasgow. It will an even more difficult context there," said Perrin.
Juninho said that Lyon had great respect for Rangers who won the first meeting between the two sides 3-0 at Stade Gerland.
"There's no feeling of revenge," said the Brazilian.
"Nothing's changed. Rangers are the favourites."
Meanwhile, Le Mans leapt into third place with a 3-1 win at Lens and are now four points behind Nancy.
Bottom club Metz, with just one win all season, were 2-0 losers at sixth-placed Saint-Etienne and are 11 points from safety.
On Sunday, third-placed Bordeaux travel to Nice, while floundering PSG desperately need a result at relegation rivals Auxerre.
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