French season 2019/20

[Lyonnais]

The new season starts on Saturday with the "Trophée des Champions" (Super Cup) between Paris SG, title holder, and Rennes,; cup winner in Shenzhen, China.

Just for memory, Guingamp and Caen relegated last season will be replaced by Metz and Brest.

Here is the map of the 20 clubs involved in Ligue 1 this season (not a great map but I haven't been able to find a better one)




Paris SG obviously is the main favourite to keep the title. The most interesting battles should take place for the European spots and relegation.

The pre-season odds are the following

1.10 Paris SG
10 Lyon
15 Marseille
20 Lille
30 Monaco
50 Saint-Etienne
150 Nice
250 Bordeaux - Montpellier - Nantes - Rennes
500 Nîmes - Strasbourg - Toulouse
1000 Amiens - Angers - Brest - Dijon - Metz - Reims

Let's see in May 2020 who will be the under and over-achievers of the year.

[subway14]

the season started last week already with Ligue 2

[Lyonnais]

the season started last week already with Ligue 2

Yes oops
Thanks subway

[Lyonnais]

Trophée des Champions


PARIS SG - RENNES 2-1
Mbappé 57' Di Maria 73'; Hunou 14'

Paris without Neymar suspended and Rennes without their African players in vacation. It's Rennes who had the best start and scored first by Hunou. Paris then had a strong domination and tied after the break by Mbappé then scored the second goal thanks to a great free-kick of Di Maria. Rennes pushed hard in the last quarter but failed to equalize. Paris win the Super Cup and get their revenge.

Paris SG: Areola - Meunier (T.Silva 81'), Diallo, Kehrer, Bernat - Herrera (Di Maria 61'), Marquinhos (Paredes 78'), Verratti - Sarabia, Cavani, Mbappé
Rennes: Koubek - Gelin, Morel, Da Silva - Bourigeraud (Gboho 68'), Léa-Siliki (Del Castillo 84'), Grenier, Cavaminga, Maouassa - Hunou (Boey 45'), Tait

[Lyonnais]

Key signings in Ligue 1 as of 04/08/19 (close on Sep 2)

32 M€ Abdou Diallo (from Dortmund to Paris SG)
32 M€ Idrissa Gueye (from Everton to Paris SG)
30 M€ Joachim Andersen (from Sampdoria to Lyon)
30 M€ Gelson Martins (from Atletico to Monaco)
22 M€ Thiago Mendes (from Lille to Lyon)
18 M€ Pablo Sarabia (from Sevilla to Paris SG)
15 M€ Mbaye Niang (from Torino to Rennes)
15 M€ Victor Osimhen (from S.Charleroi to Lille)
14 M€ Benjamin Lecomte (from Montpellier to Monaco)
9.5 M€ Teji Savanier (from Nîmes to Montpellier)
9.5 M€ Timothy Weah (from Paris SG to Lille)
etc.


Key departures in Ligue 1 as of 04/08/19

80 M€ Nicolas Pépé (from Lille to Arsenal)
62 M€ Tanguy Ndombélé (from Lyon to Tottenham)
48 M€ Ferland Mendy (from Lyon to Real Madrid)
40 M€ Youri Tielemans (from Monaco to Leicester)
35 M€ Rafael Leao (from Lille to Milan)
30 M€ William Saliba (from St-Etienne to Arsenal)
25 M€ Jules Koundé (from Bordeaux to Sevilla)
22 M€ Giovani Lo Celso (from Paris SG to Betis)
22 M€ Allan Saint-Maximin (from Nice to Newcastle)
20 M€ Nabil Fekir (from Lyon to Betis)
etc.

[subway14]

first matchday and Marseille bottling already

[Lyonnais]

first matchday and Marseille bottling already

yes indeed.

[Lyonnais]

L1 - MD1


Match of the week

MARSEILLE - REIMS 0-2
Dia 58' Suk Huyng-Jun 90'

Marseille: Mandanda - Sakai, Kamara, Caleta-Car, Amavi - Sanson (Chabrolle 73'), L.Gustavo, Strootman - Radonjic (Sarr 59'), Germain (Benedetto 73'), Payet
coach: A. Villas-Boas
Reims: Rajkovic - Foket, Disasi, Abdelhamid, Kamara - Romao, Chavalerin - Oudin (Konan 85'), Dingomé (M'Buku 73'), Doumbia (Suk Yung-Jun 77') - Dia
coach: D. Guion
Orange Velodrome, att: 52,887

Poor start for Marseille and the same weaknesses already noticed last season. The team was apathetic without any move and they were finally unable to threaten a good team of Reims who had much more determination. Reims created a couple of good chances in the first half but they were all saved by a good Mandanda. In the beginning of the second half, Marseille created their first and only chance in the game (Strootman shot on the bar) but quickly after this Dia scored the first goal for Reims. Without any real reaction of Marseille, Reims secured their win at the very end of the game by Suk Yung-Jun.
Marseille start the season poorly and are already under pressure before their game at Nantes, whereas Reims keep on surprising after their excellent season last year. They're playing Strasbourg next week.

Man of the Match

Hassane KAMARA
DL, 25, Reims & Gambia
Career: Châteauroux - Reims - Créteil - Reims (2017)



The other games

PARIS SG - NIMES 3-0
Cavani 24' Mbappé 56' Di Maria 69'

LILLE - NANTES 2-1
Osimhen 19' 80'; Celik og 51'

MONACO - LYON 0-3
Dembélé 5' Depay 36' Tousart 80'

DIJON - ST-ETIENNE 1-2
Tavares 34'; Hamouma 5' Ahoulou 11'

MONTPELLIER - RENNES 0-1
Morel 6'

NICE - AMIENS 2-1
Hérelle 32' Dante 90+5'; Akolo 81'

ANGERS - BORDEAUX 3-1
Reine-Adelaïde 27' Lage 33' Mangani 45'; De Préville 4'

STRASBOURG - METZ 1-1
Thomasson 21'; Diallo 47'

BREST - TOULOUSE 1-1
Autret 25'; Koulouris 89'

[Lorric]

That Weah transfer looks like a hell of a bargain.

[subway14]

'Neymar go away': PSG fans demand wantaway star leaves the club as ultra supporters hold up x-rated banner during their side's 3-0 win over Nimes

[Lyonnais]

I presume that this story will finally end at the last day of the transfer window (2nd of september for France, same in Spain?) but I will be glad when it's finished. At last they will be able to speak football and not transfers anymore.
However, it seems that the situation is a bit more clear now. Not only Neymar was not part of the squad yesderday but he was not in the stadium too. This could mean that his departure is on the way assuming that Barça or Real are able to agree with PSG.

[subway14]

PSG bottling against Rennes

[Lyonnais]

L1 - MD2

Match of the week

RENNES - PARIS SG 2-1
Niang 44' Del Castillo 48'; Cavani 36'

RENNES: Salin - H.Traoré, Da Silva, Gelin, Morel, Maouassa - Bourigeaud, Cavaminga, Grenier - Del Castillo, Niang
Coach: J.Stéphan
PARIS SG: Areola - Meunier, T.Silva, Diallo, Bernat - Verratti, Marquinhos, Draxler - Di Maria, Cavani, Mbappé
Coach: T.Tuchel
Roazhon Park, att: 28,956

Stade Rennais won after a full game. Well organized, the Bretons were solid in defence and dangerous in counterattack. Paris-Saint-Germain lacked offensive inspiration despite long possession sequences and had too little shots on target (2 out of 8 attempts).
Will PSG become Rennes' favourite opponent? Another win for Rennes who confirm their pretentious in spite of the critics related to the recruitment (5 major departures vs. no big signings), but the summer market ends on Sep 2 in France. As far as PSG are concerned it could be a good wake up call and although they are the big favourite of the league, nothing is granted.

Man of the match

Eduardo CAVAMINGA
MC, 16, Rennes & France
Career: Rennes (2019)



The other games

AMIENS - LILLE 1-0
Guirassy 70'

LYON - ANGERS 6-0
Aouar 11' Dembélé 36' 65' Depay 42' 48' J.Lucas 72'

ST-ETIENNE - BREST 1-1
Bouanga 83'; Faussurier 45'

NIMES - NICE 1-2
Ripart pen 45'; Cyprien pen 10' Ganago 16'

BORDEAUX - MONTPELLIER 1-1
Maja 69'; Delort 22'

NANTES - MARSEILLE 0-0

REIMS - STRASBOURG 0-0

METZ - MONACO 3-0
Diallo pen 11' 53' Cohade 66'

TOULOUSE - DIJON 1-0
Makengo 54'

[Lyonnais]

Ligue 1 - MD3


Match of the week

LILLE - ST-ETIENNE Wednesday 19:00


The other games

PARIS SG - TOULOUSE 4-0
Choupo-Moting 50' 75' Goncalves og 55' Marquinhos 83'

MONTPELLIER - LYON 1-0
Souquet 42'

NICE - MARSEILLE Wednesday 21:00

STRASBOURG - RENNES 0-2
Grenier 16' Niang 54'

BREST - REIMS 1-0
Charbonnier 86'

ANGERS - METZ 3-0
El Melali 4' Santamaria 43' Alioui 67'

AMIENS - NANTES 1-2
Zungu 71'; Coulibaly 53' Simon 84'

MONACO - NIMES 2-2
Slimani 39' Ben Yedder 45'; Philippoteaux 70' Denkey 82'

DIJON - BORDEAUX 0-2
Hwang Ui-jo 11' Benito 47'

[Todor]

Ligue 1 - MD3


Match of the week

LILLE - ST-ETIENNE Wednesday 19:00


The other games

PARIS SG - TOULOUSE Sunday 21:00

MONTPELLIER - LYON Tuesday 19:00

NICE - MARSEILLE Wednesday 21:00

STRASBOURG - RENNES Sunday 17:00

BREST - REIMS 1-0
Charbonnier 86'

ANGERS - METZ 3-0
El Melali 4' Santamaria 43' Alioui 67'

AMIENS - NANTES 1-2
Zungu 71'; Coulibaly 53' Simon 84'

MONACO - NIMES 2-2
Slimani 39' Ben Yedder 45'; Philippoteaux 70' Denkey 82'

DIJON - BORDEAUX 0-2.
Hwang Ui-jo 11' Benito 47'

Why is this round played over so many days? Is it related to the G7 summit ?