France - Ligue 1
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Ligue 1 football: Ben Lyttleton on Rennes' Mickaël Pagis
guardian.co.uk Oct 07 2008 05:54
Rennes` 35-year-old striker Mickaël Pagis won the plaudits, but it`s Toulouse who are keeping the pressure on Lyon at the topIf you were looking for a way to get out of a tough game against your local rivals the next day, it would be the perfect excuse: "Sorry boss, I`ve got a bit of a headache today. Three armed men broke into my house last night, smashed me over the head with the butt of their shotgun, threatened my wife and kids, nicked my Audi A5 and then tried to ram-raid it into two supermarkets before the bastards burnt it." That`s what Florent Balmont told the Lille coach Rudy Garcia on Saturday morning after his eventful Friday night, but the hard-man midfielder added that he still wanted to play against neighbouring Valenciennes. So there he was, sporting a nasty cut o