In the 22nd round of the French championship, Guingamp will host Toulouse. Guingamp has largely safeguarded itself from relegation and playoff matches, so it feels calm despite its modest squad and financial resources. They sit 13th, level on points with Nice, one point ahead of Paris, and Angers and Nantes, who are fighting for survival, by nine points. The gap to Brest is four points, so they cannot climb higher in case of a win. But Toulouse has such an opportunity. They are ninth, trailing Strasbourg and Monaco by only one point, and Rennes and Lille by four. So a win would give Toulouse a chance to contend for places in European competitions, which would be a huge achievement for this team. But rivals are pressing from behind. Angers are one point behind, Lorient two behind, Brest three behind. Each of these teams also has dreams of contending at least for a place in the Conference League. Guingamp, in the previous round, unexpectedly beat Strasbourg (2-1), had previously lost to Lens (0-1) and drew with Monaco (0-0) and Rennes (1-1). And Toulouse, in the previous round, lost to Angers (0-1), but earlier knocked Amiens out of the French Cup (1-0), drew with Auxerre (0-0), beat Brest (2-0) and Nice (5-1). In the first leg this season, the two opponents drew 0-0, but last season both meetings were won by Toulouse (2-0 and 4-1).