The 2018/19 French Ligue 1 season begins on Friday with the opening game of round 1 at the Orange Velodrome. Olympique Marseille entertain Toulouse who barely kept their top flight status by scrapping through a relegation play-off tie. Paris Saint-Germain are favorites to claim the 2018-19 Ligue 1 Conforama title having won five in the last six seasons. Les Parisien were comfortable champions last season securing the title with a healthy 13 points difference ahead of AS Monaco – runner up. Can anyone stop or challenge QSi club?
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
PSG reclaimed the French league title in style last season after AS Monaco’s stunning triumph in 2016/17 season. The team led by Unai Emery secured all domestic titles but you present a case that they had the strongest squad in the country so that’s the least expected. Brazilian superstar Neymar arrived from Barcelona in a world record transfer fee while French wonderkid Kylian Mbappe joined on an initial loan deal from Monaco before making the permanent switch this summer. PSG won 29 league matches and lost thrice in Ligue 1 on their way to wrestling back the title. Nevertheless, the capital club decided it was time for a new direction under a new leadership. German coach Thomas Tuchel is fully aware of the expectation at his new club; he cannot afford to take anything for granted in a league where surprises have sprung up when you least expect. The former Borussia Dortmund coach has won his first title as Les Rouge-et-Bleu boss in the Trophée des Champions victory over AS Monaco last weekend. Les Parisiens will be expected to retain the title.
AS MONACO
The principality club halted PSG’s dominance in the 2016/17 season by emerging as league champions but could not repeat the feat last season. The expectation for the season is for Les Monégasques to challenge the powerful Parisiens closer than last season. Since the 2016/17 success, the club has been decimated; key players have departed for greener pastures where they can enhance their careers further and earn lucrative contracts. Thomas Lemar and Fabinho are the latest to exit the club for Spain and England respectively. Old fox and skipper Radamel Falcao will be expected to lead the line with support from new acquisition Aleksandr Golovin and Willem Geubbels. It appears the new trend at La Turbie training centre every summer is the arrival of new young faces to replace seasoned campaigners; a reality for Leonardo Jardim. Does the Portuguese manager have the resources to effectively challenge PSG? Monaco are undergoing a rebuilding phase with several young players coming in; expectation at Stade Louis II would be to remain competitive and qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
OLYMPQUE LYONNAIS
The second half of 2017/18 season saw Bruno Genesio team play some of the best attacking football in France. The quarter of Bertrand Traore, Memphis Depay, Mariano Diaz and Nabil Fekir lit up stadiums across the country firing on all cylinders and scoring with ease. Les Gones are back in the UEFA Champions League this season which means more revenue to the club and excitement in the stands. The loss of Willem Geubbels, one of the hottest property in French football to rival Monaco will hurt because his departure means strengthening a rival in the battle for top place finishes on the table. Lyon are a dangerous team to face on their day; their attacking quartet all hit double figures for goals last season and can hurt any team. However, the backups may not be able to replicate what these players offer. OL will be expected to a step further this season as they aim to close the gap on PSG.
OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE
Rudi Garica has turned around the fortunes of Les Phocéens since he joined Marseille in October 2016. Marseille’s run to the UEFA Europa League final last season is a testament to the incredible work the former AS Roma and Lille boss is doing at Centre d’entraînement Robert Louis-Dreyfus. Several players have seen their careers resurrect under Garcia in Marseille; including World Cup winner Florian Thauvin who scored 22 goals last season. Dmitri Payet is the chief architect in Garcia’s master piece with fans looking forward to the new season with optimism. In spite of the Europa league distractions, Marseille were just a point off securing a Champions League spot in a remarkable 2017/18 campaign. The objective for this season would be securing a top-three finish and closing the gap on eternal rival PSG.
OTHERS
Rennes and Bordeaux finished fifth and sixth respectively last season. Both clubs were impressive in the second half of last season and would be aiming to upset the super elite clubs above them in Ligue 1. Sabir Lamouchi took over last November and was able to improve Rennes performances and results to see them finish fifth and securing an automatic Europa League group stage qualification. Gustavo Poyet guided Girondins Bordeaux to a top-six finish despite taking over in January 2018.
Former French international Patrick Vieira is in charge of OGC Nice; the former NYCFC coach arrived at Allianz Riviera with an enhanced reputation from MLS. Nice have lost several important players including Jean Michael Seri and Alassane Plea to Fulham and Borussia Moenchengladbach. However, Vieria has been able to dive into the transfer market for replacements. Ten new faces have been brought in including Braga’s midfielder Danilo to replace Seri. The task of putting together a strong team to challenge for an European place will be top priority for the former Arsenal captain.
Stade Reims and Nimes Olympique are the newly promoted teams from Ligue 2 for the 2018/19 season. Toulouse retained their Ligue 1 winning the play-off battle against Ajaccio.
We expect a tough battle at the bottom end of the table with several teams fighting for survival in the French top flight this season. Newly promoted Reims have brought in five new players (Ghislain Konan, Tristan Dingome, Thomas Fontaine, Alaixys Romao and Moussia Doumbia) while Nimes have ten new players in. Most are loan deals, free transfers and players that are unattached. Denis Bounaga is the only player the spent money on; he arrived from FC Lorient for £2.7m
The 2018/19 Ligue 1 campaign ends in May 2019 when we’ll get to find out if these teams met their objectives for the season.
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