Football essentials, 26 October: PSG against Lyon tonight, a Ballon d’Or in London, an empty away end in Lille

Two fixtures share the evening: the Ballon d’Or at the London Palladium, and PSG against Lyon at the Parc des Princes. The northern derby settled itself by email: Lens are leaving their away section empty.

PSG-Lyon at last, and the president in the stands

Postponed by the prefecture, the Ligue 1 clash finally kicks off on Monday at 20:30 in Paris. Nasser al-Khelaïfi has made his choice: the PSG president will attend the match rather than the Ballon d’Or ceremony, held at the same time in London. Without Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, due in Doha early in the week for knee surgery, Paris host a Lyon side four days clear of Hoffenheim. The PSG-Lyon prediction is up, odds refreshed.

Ballon d’Or: Kane leads the betting, the vote is tight

Harry Kane arrived in London with the Bayern delegation as the bookmakers’ favourite: Sky Sports expects one of the tightest results in recent history, and English supporters hope their top scorer of the season takes the trophy home. Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé are expected at the Palladium. I weighed the Kane case, then the three contenders.

A first in London, and absentees who matter

For the first time in its history the ceremony has left Paris: after six editions at the Théâtre du Châtelet, the 70th is staged at the London Palladium, 70 years after the first award went to the Englishman Stanley Matthews. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, one of the favourites, will miss it, flying to Doha for surgery. Hansi Flick declined the invitation the day after losing the clasico. I explained why London.

Clasico: a Mbappé double, and a sick list that keeps growing

Barcelona lost everything in six days: beaten 4-2 in Paris on Tuesday, they fell at the Camp Nou on Sunday (1-2), a first league defeat after nine straight wins. Mbappé opened the scoring on 41 minutes and finished the counter Camavinga launched on 87, his hundredth goal for Real Madrid. Barça still lead the table, three points clear of Real. The bill keeps growing: Xavi Espart is out for at least seven weeks, right ankle, in a defence where the club already improvise. The clasico debrief is up.

Napoli appeal against Allegri’s two-match ban

Sent off for behaviour judged inappropriate and aggressive towards AS Roma, Massimiliano Allegri collected a fine and a two-match suspension, which the club disputes. Two Serie A games in the stands for the coach, a punishment Napoli intend to overturn on appeal.

Rennes-Olympiakos in the sights of 4 November

The national strike day of 5 November falls on a Europa League Thursday: according to AFP, Rennes against Olympiakos could be moved forward to Wednesday 4, the prefecture unable to guarantee the security operation at Roazhon Park. In Europe, Rennes are holding their own: a draw taken at Juventus, a 2-1 win over OFI Crete. I detailed what the calendar changes, Saturday’s trip to Nice included.

Northern derby: Lens leave the away end empty

Not a single Lens supporter in Lille on Friday. By email sent to their fan groups on Monday morning, the club announced that no tickets will be sold for the derby and that their visitors’ section at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium will stay closed. The club decided before any authority banned them, five days after the flares of Bruges. The empty away end goes into the derby debrief.