no surprise there

Kovac schooling Pochettino once again

Kovac seems like a decent coach tbh. Maybe his struggles at Bayern were truly due to locker room issues after all.

Meanwhile PSG just comfortably beat Lille in the cup who is first in the league? I guess its only a matter of time Lille can hold them off first place and stop PSG from walking to another league title?

BarcaLearning wrote:Meanwhile PSG just comfortably beat Lille in the cup who is first in the league? I guess its only a matter of time Lille can hold them off first place and stop PSG from walking to another league title?

I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the only time they haven't won the league title since they became an oil sheik- owned club, was that one season when Monaco won it. I predict that they'll be 10 points or more ahead of second place, by the end of the season.

Thimmy wrote:I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the only time they haven't won the league title since they became an oil sheik- owned club, was that one season when Monaco won it. I predict that they'll be 10 points or more ahead of second place, by the end of the season.

You're correct:

Last season they won it with 12 points ahead of second-placed Marseille, and the season before last they won with a difference of 16 points from second-placed Lille.

It's also understandable because they are so much richer than all the other clubs in the league combined, and are constantly ransacking them for any worthy talent. I'm actually quite impressed that Monaco managed to win one, but I suspect nobody else will win it again for a very long time.

Montpellier with Giroud won it the first year of new ownership of PSG as well.

A few notes:
-  If any of you actually watched the games, you would know that PSG have struggled in a big way alll season in Ligue 1.  Most of the games are very close for them
-  Of the 7 titles they won since the new ownership, they only won by more than 10 points from 2nd place 3 times.  Likely 4 if last season wasn't cut short... so let's say 4 (maybe).  They never achieved 100 pts and were over 90 I think three times.  

The issue isn't that Ligue 1 team doesn't give PSG a hard time...  the problem is that the so-called top teams like OM, Lyon, Monaco, and Lille get beaten around in the league and they keep selling their best players almost every year.  

Not saying it's a great league to watch.  It's not.  Rough and defensive...  all the creative talent leaves quickly.  I don't really like it honestly and haven't watched consistently for 2 years now because the refereeing is atrocious too.  But it's not an easy league (for all the wrong reasons).

The managers have no balls and no imagination.  Everyone plays the same atrocious Mourinho-esque way. I feel bad for Doc because he started watching right after Monaco sold everyone and Lyon went numpty... probably the most shitty years 2-3 years ago lol (still cancerous now to be clear).

There was a nice 4 year stretch where Monaco, PSG and Lyon all played good football though.  Monaco sold everyone and Lyon had shit managers.  Otherwise, I don't think PSG win 3 out of those 4.  That was it in the last 10 years.

Lol thx for the summary Sport... I used to over the years once in a long while try n watch a big game of the league, but usually am disappointed. There was a period where there were quite a few 4-4 and Monaco year, but apart from that largely not much excitment, and only after PSG started buying the stars was it a bit more attractive...

sportsczy wrote:There was a nice 4 year stretch where Monaco, PSG and Lyon all played good football though.  Monaco sold everyone and Lyon had shit managers.  Otherwise, I don't think PSG win 3 out of those 4.  That was it in the last 10 years.

But sports, you have to admit that it's very difficult for any club (not just clubs from Ligue I) to compete with a club that is exponentially richer than them.

Even if you somehow managed to build a great team from scratch like Monaco did in 2016-17, you still wouldn't be able to hold on to them for a very long time (lost Mbappé, Mendy, Silva and Bakayako in one transfer window).

Ligue I is definitely not as easy as the table of recent years would suggest, but PSG will continue to win it regardless of whether or not they struggle in the process.

Having said that, Ligue I is definitely a goldmine for talent and the only place where talent is still somehow affordable in this crazy, inflated market. If It wasn't for them, many top clubs would struggle to find elite talent in Europe.

BTW, do you have an explanation for the downfall of Lyon's academy and management? They used to have a terrific academy and a great scouting department that made them dominate Ligue I for so many years. But then one day, they simply stopped.

Monaco was keeping up with PSG in terms of spending for 2-3 years there, which is why everyone was so excited. But then the Russian billionaire got a divorce... lost half his fortune to his ex-wife AND was a victim of US sanctions on Russian oligarchs. His fortune literally was cut by 60% (still a billionaire; no need to cry lol).

But the spending stopped cold then and Monaco became a developmental squad that sold its best players to fund its operations.

Re Lyon academy = it is still one of the best in France imo. The weird thing is that they sell some of their best players before they make it up to the big club. Remember that Martial, Plea, Nbombele, Aouar, Caqueret, Umtiti, Tolisso, Fekir, Lacazette, Bouna Sarr, etc. are all academy product. I think Gouiri, who plays for Nice, and Cherki, who is still with Lyon, are going to be extremely good.

Lyon academy is known for its attacking talent tbh.

I've only followed Ligue 1 for and entire, full season over the past decade, which is why I said "I might be wrong". I've checked the league table every now and then, and PSG seem to always top the table towards the end of the season.  

The season when Monaco won the league, they had the likes of Liverpool's Fabinho, Moutinho, Thomas Lemar, Mbappe and Falcao. Players that might not necessarily be in the best of form today, but they certainly clicked when they played together. They even had James Rodriguez at one point.

Their scouts absolutely had an eye for talent. None of those players are there anymore, though. I know Ben Yedder transferred there a few seasons ago, I'm not sure who else they've got these days.

Thimmy wrote:I've only followed Ligue 1 for and entire, full season over the past decade, which is why I said "I might be wrong". I've checked the league table every now and then, and PSG seem to always top the table towards the end of the season.  

The season when Monaco won the league, they had the likes of Liverpool's Fabinho, Moutinho, Thomas Lemar, Mbappe and Falcao. Players that might not necessarily be in the best of form today, but they certainly clicked when they played together. They even had James Rodriguez at one point.

Their scouts absolutely had an eye for talent. None of those players are there anymore, though. I know Ben Yedder transferred there a few seasons ago, I'm not sure who else they've got these days.

Golovin (was shit, now good), Cesc Fabregas (shit), Gelson Martins, Sidibe (shit), Jovetic (shit), Volland (good), Youssouf Fofana (good), Caio Henrique (good), Benoît Badiashile (everyone wants him), Aurélien Tchouaméni (everyone wants him), Guillermo Maripán (decent), Disasi (ok)....

Kovac has done a great job as manager. Well organized, very talented defense, good attack.

Reading the above and imagining what if thats the kind of summary the real scouts write in their reports to the manager or whatever - shit, good, great, shit, really shit, etc.... loool

Lyon

Lopes - de Sciglio , Marcelo , Denayer , Cornet - Lucas Paqueta , Thiago Mendes , Caqueret - Kadewere , Depay , Toko Ekambi

Reservebank:
Pollersbeck (Tor), Bard, Benlamri, Diomandé, Dubois, Gusto, Bruno Guimaraes, Cherki, Slimani

Trainer:
Garcia

Paris SG

Navas - Florenzi , Marquinhos , Kimpembe , Diallo - Danilo Pereira , Gueye , di Maria , Verratti , Mbappé - Kean

Reservebank:
Sergio Rico (Tor), Bakker, Dagba, Kurzawa, Ander Herrera, Draxler, Paredes, Rafinha, Neymar

Trainer:
Pochettino

Winner to top the table after Lille lost

Lyon playing horrible against PSG...  not like PSG playing anything special.  But talent will trump everything when all else is equal.  PSG playing with a 2 DM midfield and Verratti hurts my soul btw.  Gueye and Perreira can't pass more than 5 meters.

@DoC...  Aulas paid for the new stadium all by himself.  No public money at all.  But Lyon went cheap for a while to pay for the project (arsenal anyone?}.  He was raking money after it opened and getting ready to splash again when Covid hit.  He's a good businessman.  Lyon will be back IF they get a good sporting director and manager. I don't like the people there right now.

Lyon... wtf guys. This is how you play a big game at home?

sportsczy wrote:Lyon... wtf guys. This is how you play a big game at home?

In addition, Lille lost to relegation threatened Nimes.

Still, the top four teams are separated by just four points. However, I think PSG will start to pull away from hereon.

PSG is down 3 points with 2 games to go...  Lille is going to win Ligue 1 this season.

In fact, PSG is only 3 points clear of the last CL spot.  Monaco is only 2 points behind them and Lyon 3 points.  Only top 3 go to CL. Granted, there's little to no chance of this happening... but there's still a chance.

Pochettino at it again

Firenze wrote:
Pochettino at it again

Yeah he's not been impressive. But he came in mid-season. Carlo did the same thing.

RENATO SANCHES

PSG beats Monaco 2-0 to win the cup, with Mbappe as usual key, one assist one goal, all without Neymar. Basically Mbappe is too good for the league He really needs to go to Spain or EPL Otherwise we'll prolly see more of the same every year, he walks the league, and dont win the CL? Of course this year one game to go they may lose out the league just, but for Mbappe, I just dont see how this is good for him if he continues on doing the same thing.

Come on Lille, you can do it.

Angers

Bernardoni - Manceau, Pavlovic, Thomas, Cabot - Bobichon, Mangani, Capelle - Fulgini, Diony, Pereira Lage

Reservebank:
Butelle (Tor), Doumbia, Ebosse, Cho, Mouanga, Taibi, Bahoken, El Melali, Thioub

Trainer:
Moulin

Lille

Maignan - Celik, Tiago Djalo, Botman, Reinildo - RENATO SANCHES, André, Soumaré, Yazici - David, Yilmaz

Reservebank:
Karnezis (Tor), Bradaric, Pied, Luiz Araujo, Xeka, J. Bamba, Ikoné, Lihadji, Weah

Trainer:
Galtier

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Any links to stream the match?

I think everybody on the planet, outside of Paris, wants Lille to win tonight

I gotta say, I never would've thought PSG would lose its league crown any time soon. Kudos to Lille for doing it because it's definitely not easy.