No winner in top 2 Ligue 1 clash

  Paris Saint-Germain 2 – 2 Montpellier Hérault SC  Given the huge differences between the two sides’ profiles, playing staff and budgets and the single point that separated them in the table, Sunday’s clash was one of the most hyped confrontations in recent Ligue 1 history. The Montpellier President, garbage magnate Louis Nicollin (the absolute antithesis of PSG’s [...]

French Ligue 1: Montpellier, PSG, and Lille – It’s Tight At The Top

Arriving at Valenciennes FC’s brand new Stade du Hainaut with a three-point lead and boasting an eight-game unbeaten run, Montpellier hardly expected their momentum to be rudely halted by a side struggling to keep itself out of the relegation zone. However, despite lacking five first-team regulars, the hosts claimed only a second win in seven [...]

LIGUE 1: PSG KEEP MONTPELLIER WITHIN REACH

Paris Saint-Germain got back to winning ways against Auxerre to keep the victorious Montpellier juggernaut from widening their lead, while Lille, OL and OM all triumphed ahead of make-or-break Champions League fixtures. After four matches in all competitions without a win – three of them losses, most recently 3-0 in the Clasico – Paris Saint-Germain, [...]

Move to homeland working out for Ronaldinho

When players reach the latter days of their career, and have been plying their trade on foreign playing fields for the most of it, it seems quite inevitable that they should go on to finish their careers in their home countries or a league where the expectation levels are a little less.  This has been [...]

Ligue 1 week 23 wrap-up

By Shai Mamou Sochaux-Marseille: 1-2 Even highly criticized on the quality of their game for a few weeks, Marseille is back. This win at Sochaux thanks to two splendid goals of André-Pierre Gignac (45′, 69′), the title holders make their way back in the third position of the league, even if Lille still have 6 [...]

Ligue 1, Week 21

By Shai Mamou Lille-Lens : 1-0 Lille is definately a solid leader and, at this very moment, deserves to win the championship. Without being brilliant in the Northern Derby versus Lens, the guys of Rudi Garcia managed to make a difference and not to panic facing a strong defense. Well bodyguarded, Eden Hazard was not the [...]

Ligue 1: After a bad end of 2010, Marseille starts 2011 “pretty well”.

By Jean Sébastien Maire After an horrific month of December, finishing with 1 win, 1 loss and 4 draws, Marseille ended the year 5th, but not completely out of the run for the championship, only 4 points away from Lille which was the best team before the bye that coincided with the holiday season. Marseille’s [...]

French Ligue 1 week 18 round-up

By Shai Mamou PSG-Monaco: 2-2 Once again, Paris was convincing and impressive. But once again, Paris missed the chance to take the lead in Ligue 1 championship. On a more than ugly pitch of the Parc des Princes, the players of the capital conceded the draw in the last minutes of their game versus Monaco. [...]

French Ligue 1 week 17 wrap up

By Shai Mamou Arles-Avignon-Lille: 0-1 What a relief for Lille! In trouble during more than 90 minutes versus the weak Arles-Avignon, the Ligue 1 leaders failed to reproduce the same type of game than the last weeks. Apathetic, slow and uninspired, Rudi Garcia’s team could even have lost this game without Mickaël Landreau the former [...]