French football 2020/21

[Phocea]

We have to talk about Garcia... In the last 5 years, he had Lyon and Marseille (not the smallest clubs of the country...) and he has not grabbed CL spots once.

[Lyonnais]

Ligue 1 - MD38


Match of the week

LENS - MONACO 0-0

(XG 0-1)

Monaco finishes on the podium
Dominant but ineffective, the ASM can thank Nice, winner of Lyon and which allows the Monegasques to keep their 3rd place, synonymous with a direct ticket for the C1 if Manchester Utd wins in the C3 final. Cruel outcome for the Lensois who end the season in 7th place depriving them of Europe.

LENS (5-3-2): Leca - Clauss, Gradit, Bade, Medina (Banza 88'), Haidara - Cahuzac (Kakuta 86'), Doucouré, Fofana - Sotoca (Jean 73'), Ganago (Kalimuendo 72')
Coach: F.Haise
MONACO (3-4-3): Lecomte - Sidibé, Maripan, Badiashile - G.Martins (Diatta 72'), Tchouaméni, Fofana (Fabregas 78'), C.Henrique - Golovin, Ben Yedder (Pellegri 91'), Volland (Disasi 91')
Coach: N. Kovac


Man of the match

DJIBRIL SIDIBE
DR, 28, Monaco & France (18 caps)
Career: Troyes - Lille - Monaco - Everton - Monaco (2020)
Titles:
- Winner of the World Cup 2018
- Champion of France 2017



The other games

ANGERS - LILLE 1-2
Fulgini 90+2'; David 10' Yilmaz pen 45'

BREST - PARIS SG 0-2
Faivre og 37' Mbappé 71'

LYON - NICE 2-3
Toko Ekambi 14' 40'; Dolberg 27' Kamara 50' Saliba 57'

METZ - MARSEILLE 1-1
Boulaya pen 90+7'; Milik pen 90+14'

RENNES - NIMES 2-0
Guirassy 24' Bourigeaud 50'

NANTES - MONTPELLIER 1-2
Muani 33'; Laborde 30' Delort 76'

ST-ETIENNE - DIJON 0-1
Kamara 39'

REIMS - BORDEAUX 1-2
Touré 15'; Adli 44' Kwateng 58'

STRASBOURG - LORIENT 1-1
Diallo 18'; Chalobah 55'

[Lyonnais]

Final table


1. LILLE 83 (CL GS)
2. PARIS SG 82 (CL GS)
3. MONACO 78 (CL GS or CL QR)
----------
4. LYON 76 (EL)
5. MARSEILLE 60 (EL)
6. RENNES 58 (ECL)
----------
7. LENS 57

(...)

17. BREST 41
----------
18. NANTES 40 (Relegation PO)
----------
19. NIMES 35 (relegated)
20. DIJON 21 (relegated)


Promotion / relaxation play-offs: TOULOUSE v NANTES
1st leg at Toulouse on Thursday
2nd leg at Nantes on Sunday

[Lyonnais]

Champion of France 2021



Home 37 pts (3rd best)
Away 46 pts (best team)

4th attack (64 goals scored)
1st defense (23 goals conceded)
2nd goal difference (+41)


Results vs. top 5 (4 wins 4 draws)

MARSEILLE - LILLE 1-1
LILLE - LYON 1-1
LILLE - MONACO 2-1
LILLE - PARIS SG 0-0
LILLE - MARSEILLE 2-0
MONACO - LILLE 0-0
PARIS SG - LILLE 0-1
LYON - LILLE 2-3


Champions in the last 10 years

2021 LILLE
2020 PARIS SG
2019 PARIS SG
2018 PARIS SG
2017 MONACO
2016 PARIS SG
2015 PARIS SG
2014 PARIS SG
2013 PARIS SG
2012 MONTPELLIER


All time table

10 - ST-ETIENNE (last title 1981)
9 - MARSEILLE (2010)
9 - PARIS SG (2020)
8 - MONACO (2017)
8 - NANTES (2001)
7 - LYON (2008)
6 - BORDEAUX (2009)
6 - REIMS (1962)
4 - LILLE (2021)
4 - NICE (1959)
etc.

[Lyonnais]

The Champions




Key players (18): Maignan - Botman, Fonte (captain), Celik, Reinildo, Bradaric, Djalo - Bamba, André, Ikoné, Soumaré, R.Sanches, Xeka - David, Yilmaz, Araujo, Yazici, Weah

........ ..... David (Weah) - Yilmaz (Yazici) ...................
Bamba - André (Sanches) - Soumaré (Xeka) - Ikoné (Araujo)
.... Reinildo (Bradaric) - Botman - Fonte - Celik (Djalo) ....
........................... Maignan ..................................



Reinildo and André have been named in the best XI of the year by the other players




Average age: 25.5 years

5 French players (28%)
Foreign players: Portugal (4), Turkey (3), Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Mozambique, Netherlands, USA




Mike MAIGNAN
GK, 25, Lille & France (1 cap)
Career: Lille (2015)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021



Sven BOTMAN
DC, 21, Lille & Netherlands U21
Career: Jong Ajax - Heerenveen - Lille (2020)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021



José FONTE
DC, 37, Lille & Portugal (44 caps)
Career: Sporting B - Felgueiras - V.Setubal - Paços de Ferreira - Estrela Amadora - Crystal Palace - Southampton - West Ham - Dalian - Lille (2018)
Titles:
- Winner of the Euro 2016
- Winner of the Nations League 2019
- Champion of France 2021



Zeki CELIK
DR, 24, Lille & Turkey (19 caps)
Career: Bilikispor - Istanbulspor - Lille (2018)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021



REINILDO
DL, 27, Lille & Mozambique (16 caps)
Career: Benfica B - Fafe - Covilha - Belenenses - Lille (2019)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021



Domagoj BRADARIC
DL, 21, Lille & Croatia (4 caps)
Career: Hadjuk Split - Lille (2019)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021



Tiago DJALO
DR, 21, Lille & Portugal U21
Career: Lille (2019)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021



Benjamin ANDRE
MC, 30, Lille & France U21
Career: Ajaccio - Rennes - Lille (2019)
Titles:
- Champion of France 2021
- Winner of the Coupe de France 2019



Boubakary SOUMARE
DMC, 22, Lille & France U21
Career: Lille (2017)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021



Renato SANCHES
MC, 23, Lille & Portugal (24 caps)
Career: Benfica - Bayern - Swansea - Lille (2019)
Titles:
- Winner of the Euro 2016
- Champion of Portugal 2016
- Champion of Germany 2017 & 2019
- Champion of France 2021
- Winner of the DFB Pokal 2019



XEKA
MC, 26, Lille & Portugal U20
Career: Braga B - Covilha - Braga - Lille (2017)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021



Jonathan BAMBA
ML, 25, Lille & France U21
Career: St Etienne - Paris FC - Sint-Truidense - Angers - Lille (2018)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021



Jonathan IKONE
MR, 23, Lille & France (4 caps)
Career: Paris SG - Montpellier - Lille (2018)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021



Luiz ARAUJO
MR, 24, Lille, Brazil
Career: Sao Paulo - Lille (2017)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021



Jonathan DAVID
FW, 21, Lille & Canada (12 caps)
Career: Gent - Lille (2020)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021



Burak YILMAZ
FW, 35, Lille & Turkey (66 caps)
Career: Antalyaspor - Beşiktaş - Manisaspor - Fenerbahce - Eskisehirspor - Trabzonspor - Galatasaray - Beijing - Trabzonspor - Beşiktaş - Lille (2020)
Titles:
- Champion of Turkey 2013 & 2015
- Champion of France 2021
- Winner of the Cup of Turkey 2007, 2010, 2014 & 2015



Yusuf YAZICI
FW, 24, Lille & Turkey (30 caps)
Career: Trabzonspor - Lille (2019)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021



Timothy WEAH
FW, 21, Lille & USA (10 caps)
Career: Paris SG - Celtic - Lille (2019)
Title:
- Champion of France 2018 & 2021
- Champion of Scotland 2019
- Winner of the Scottish Cup 2019

[Lyonnais]

Players' vote (UNFP Trophées)



Best player: Kylian MBAPPE (Paris SG)

Best goal keeper: Keylor NAVAS (Paris SG)

Best young player: Aurélien TCHOUAMENI (Monaco)

Best Coach: Christophe GALTIER (Lille)

Team of the year: 5 PSG, 2 Lille, 2 Lyon, Monaco, Lens

[Lyonnais]

We have to talk about Garcia... In the last 5 years, he had Lyon and Marseille (not the smallest clubs of the country...) and he has not grabbed CL spots once.

As far as OL is concerned I'd like to say that he's responsible of everything but unfortunately it's not the case.
The team is talented, showed some good things, was very close to qualify for the CL (if not better) but at some point didn't have the fighting spirit typically Lille have had all season long and at the end this makes the difference (how can you lose 2 crucial games like Lille and Nice whereas you are 2-0 and 2-1 up). And I am not sure that Rudi Garcia can be blamed for this.

Second, let's be fair, he finished 4th this season with OL with 76 points, 4th with OM in 2018 with 77 points (+ Europa League final). In most seasons, with such a total of points, he would have ended in Top 3 and thus qualified for the Champions League.

This said, I am not a big fan of the guy. His communication is irritating (although it improved I believe), his results are not that good as you mentioned although he had talented squads, so everything is not perfect for sure. But - in my humble opinion - it's too easy to put the whole blame on him.

[kenzel]

Neymar has been selected for the team of the year. What a joke. He just played in 18/38 of the Ligue 1 matchdays. CF must have been Burak Yilmaz. Kudos to Lille, as well as to Turkish and Portugues trios. Maignan, Botman, Zeki Celik, Bradaric, Djalo, Renato, Ikone, Jonathan David and Yusuf. We'll see all these players in different clubs in a short time, I think. Coach Galtier is already set to sign with Nice, which is interesting for me.

[Lyonnais]

Neymar has been selected for the team of the year. What a joke. He just played in 18/38 of the Ligue 1 matchdays. Kudos to Lille, as well as to Turkish and Portugues trios.

Players's vote are never really reliable in my opinion. They are said to assess performances in Ligue 1 only, and this season only, but most of them (i) don't really watch the games and (ii) understand that they have to vote for the best player.
Same for the Ballon d'Or by the way.

Coming back to Lille, yes indeed Jose Fonte (the captain) and Burak Yilmaz really are with Maignan and André the key guys of Lille this season.

What a hype about Burak ("King Burak", "Burak the 1st" for Lille fans) !
Not only he was very performing in the last games (namely vs. Lyon and Lens, 2 very important games), but he's a true leader. And more than this, "he has a face" as they say in Hollywood. Everything to please to the fans.
By way his goal vs. Lens has been named goal of the year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrSdTV6hcR4

Celik is very good too, very consistent. Of course, he's less visible because of his position (right-back) and his character - he's less a leader than Burak, but he's solid and should have a decent career.
We played Turkey recently and I remember that it was a very decent team. Could be an outsider for the Euro.

Yazici is talented (hey hat trick vs. Milan !!!) but he's much more inconsistent. It's still a young player.

[Lyonnais]

Promotion/Relegation playoffs

TOULOUSE - NANTES 1-2
Machado 18'; Blas 10' Kolo Muani 22'

Nantes thus have the advantage before the second leg to be played on Sunday

[Lyonnais]

WS marks - Final ranking (average of the best 19 performances)


Top 10

8.43 Kylian Mbappé (Paris SG, FW, 22, FRA)
8.34 Memphis Depay (Lyon, FW, 27, NED)
8.12 Andy Delort (Montpellier, FW, 29, ALG)
7.98 Gaetan Laborde (Montpellier, FW, 27, FRA)
7.92 Karl Toko-Ekambi (Lyon, FWL, 28, CAM)
7.77 Ludovic Ajorque (Strasbourg, FW, 27, FRA)
7.77 Romain Faivre (Brest, ML, 22, FRA)
7.73 Teji Savanier (Montpellier, MC, 29, FRA)
7.73 Aurélien Tchouaméni (Monaco, MC, 21, FRA)
7.73 Amine Gouiri (Nice, FW, 21, FRA)
etc.


Best XI

............................. K.Mbappé (Paris) - M.Depay (Lyon) .......................................
K.Toko-Ekambi (Lyon) - T.Savanier (Montpellier) - A.Tchouaméni (Monaco) - A.Di Maria (Paris)
............ R.Perraud (Brest) - Marcelo (Lyon) - K.Kouyaté (Metz) - F.Centonze (Metz) .........
........................................ M.Maignan (Lille) ..................................................


U21 Players

7.73 Aurélien Tchouaméni (Monaco, MC, 21, FRA)
7.73 Amine Gouiri (Nice, FW, 21, FRA)
7.45 Jeremy Doku (Rennes, FWR, 19, BEL)
etc.


Best per club

7.65 Benjamin André (Lille, MC, 30, FRA)
8.43 Kylian Mbappé (Paris SG, FW, 22, FRA)
7.73 Aurélien Tchouaméni (Monaco, MC, 21, FRA)
8.34 Memphis Depay (Lyon, FW, 27, NED)
7.55 Florian Thauvin (Marseille, AMR, 28, FRA)
7.45 Jeremy Doku (Rennes, FWR, 19, BEL)
7.36 Gael Kakuta (Lens, AMC, 29, DRC)
8.12 Andy Delort (Montpellier, FW, 29, ALG)
7.73 Amine Gouiri (Nice, FW, 21, FRA)
7.68 Fabien Centonze (Metz, DR, 25, FRA)
7.45 Mahdi Camara (St Etienne, MC, 22, FRA)
7.17 Laurent Koscielny (Bordeaux, DC, 35, FRA)
7.61 Angelo Fulgini (Angers, AMC, 24, FRA)
7.42 Boulaye Dia (Reims, FW, 24, FRA)
7.77 Ludovic Ajorque (Strasbourg, FW, 27, FRA)
7.36 Yoane Wissa (Lorient, ML, 24, FRA)
7.77 Romain Faivre (Brest, ML, 22, FRA)
7.65 Ludovic Blas (Nantes, AMC, 23, FRA)
7.70 Zinedine Fehrat (Nîmes, ML, 28, ALG)
7.24 Bruno Ecuele Manga (Dijon, DC, 32, GAB)

[Lyonnais]

GK


7.30 Mike Maignan (Lille, GK, 25, FRA)
7.27 Walter Benitez (Nice, GK, 28, ARG)
7.26 Anthony Lopes (Lyon, GK, 30, POR)
7.26 Keylor Navas (Paris SG, GK, 34, CRC)
7.23 Baptiste Reynet (Nîmes, GK, 30, FRA)
etc.


Mike MAIGNAN
GK, 25, Lille & France (1 cap)
Career: Lille (2015)
Title:
- Champion of France 2021

[Lyonnais]

DC


7.41 Marcelo (Lyon, DC, 34, BRA)
7.40 Kiki Kouyaté (Metz, DC, 24, MAL)
7.35 José Fonte (Lille, DC, 37, POR)
7.35 Loic Bade (Lens, DC, 21, FRA)
7.34 Nayef Aguerd (Rennes, DC, 25, MOR)
7.33 Brendan Chardonnet (Brest, DC, 26, FRA)
7.30 Marquinhos (Paris SG, DC, 27, BRA)
7.29 Yunis Abdelhamid (Reims, DC, 33, MOR)
7.28 Sven Botman (Lille, DC, 21, NED)
7.26 Alexander Djiku (Strasbourg, DC, 26, FRA)
etc.


MARCELO
DC, 34, Lyon & Brazil U20
Career: Santos - W.Krakow - PSV - Hannover - Besiktas - Lyon (2017)
Titles:
- Champion of Poland 2009
- Champion of Turkey 2016 & 2017
- Winner of the KNVB Beker 2012



Kiki KOUYATE
DC, 24, Metz & Mali (4 caps)
Career: Marrakech - Sporting CP - Troyes - Metz (2020)

[Lyonnais]

DR / DMR


7.68 Fabien Centonze (Metz, DR, 25, FRA)
7.44 Leo Dubois (Lyon, DR, 26, FRA)
7.32 Mehmet Zeki Celik (Lille, DR, 24, TUR)
7.29 Ruben Aguilar (Monaco, DR, 28, FRA)
7.21 Hamari Traoré (Rennes, DR, 29, MAL)


Fabien CENTONZE
DR, 25, Metz, France
Career: Evian - Clermont - Lens - Metz (2019)

[Lyonnais]

DL / DML


7.41 Romain Perraud (Brest, DL, 23, FRA)
7.41 Reinildo (Lille, DL, 27, MOZ)
7.29 Maxwell Cornet (Lyon, DL, 24, CIV)
7.19 Hassane Kamara (Nice, DL, 27, GAM)
7.12 Caio Henrique (Monaco, DL, 23, BRA)
etc.


Romain PERRAUD
DL, 23, Brest & France U20
Career: Nice - Paris FC - Brest (2019)