Lille draw puts Monaco into Champions League
Paris (AFP) - Monaco qualified directly for the Champions League group stages without even playing on Friday as Lille drew 1-1 at Bastia.
That result left third-placed Lille seven points behind the Principality club with just two games left.
It will be Monaco's first group stage appearance in the Champions League since the 2004/05 season, where they lost to PSV Eindhoven in the last 16.
The year before that they reached the final where Porto beat them 3-0, while in 2005/06 they lost 3-2 on aggregate to Real Betis in the last qualifying round.
Monaco don't play until Wednesday when Guingamp will be the visitors to the Cote d'Azur.
They are still in contention for the title but trail champions Paris Saint-Germain by eight points with both teams having three to play.
Lille could have secured third spot, and a Champions League play-off berth, with a victory but Wahbi Khazri's goal five minutes from time denied them the victory after Salomon Kalou's 31st minute opener.
The northerners still have an eight-point lead on Saint-Etienne, though, and need just two more points, or for their rivals to fail to win all three remaining games, to finish third.
