All Hell Breaks Loose As Ligue 1 Wraps Up

By: Inara | May 18th, 2008

For those of you who follow the French league, you’ll know that goals aren’t easy to come by in France. But apparently, it looks like everybody saved the best for last. A total of 43 goals were scored yesterday to bring an end to this year’s season. And what an exciting end it was!

Of the ten matches played, nine of them were in some way significant. Either a team was fighting for the title (Lyon, Bordeaux), Champions League qualification (Nancy, Marseille), the UEFA Cup berths (Lille, St. Etienne, Nice), or survival (PSG, Toulouse, and Lens).

The Winners: Lyon, Marseille, St. Etienne, PSG, Toulouse
The Losers: Nancy, Lille, Lens

Lyon only needed a draw to capture the title, but they did so with a resounding win. This is their seventh consecutive title, though this is the first time since 2002 that Lyon had to wait until the last day to be declared champions. Bordeaux, who were two points behind going into their game against Lens, can take consolation from the fact that they pushed Lyon all the way.

Marseille, who were two points behind Nancy, knew that their destiny wasn’t in their hands. Luckily for them, they managed a hard fought victory against a very determined Strasbourg side while Nancy threw away their lead against Rennes and conceded their first home defeat all season. There are reports that fights broke out amongst the players and the staff of both Nancy and Rennes and that Nancy fans had to be subdued around their stadium.

Lille went into the weekend in fifth place and knew that they either had to win or hope that St. Etienne, in sixth, would lose. Not so. Lille could only manage a draw against Lorient while St. Etienne pulled out all the stops with a 4-0 victory over Monaco. St. Etienne are now one point above Lille, but that point is enough to see them take France’s last remaining UEFA Cup berth and to end 26 years of European exile.

Pauleta was thrilled to end his last game at PSG on a happy note.

Down below, the relegation battle was just as intense. Though Metz and Strasbourg had already been relegated, one of PSG, Lens, and Toulouse were destined to join them. Lens and Toulouse were tied on points with PSG one point above them, so every goal mattered. PSG took an early lead though Sochaux equalized, but in the dying minutes of the game, PSG scored another to take home a very vital win that ensured them safety. Toulouse were in the exact same situation against Valenciennes - they were in the lead, threw it away, and then recaptured it back again for a much needed win.

Unfortunately, the wins for PSG and Toulouse, who started out in 16th and 17th place, meant that Lens were going to be relegated no matter the result. Though Lens came from behind twice as they fought their hardest against a very strong Bordeaux side, it just wasn’t enough, and they will be joining Metz and Strasbourg in Ligue 2 next year. Lens supporters were not happy and stormed onto the pitch (but there was no violence).

The relegation of Lens is bad news for French football because they are one of the biggest clubs in France with a very passionate fan base. They have a talented squad that could have gone far with the right management. However, the story would have been the same if Toulouse or PSG had been in their place. Toulouse were one of France’s Champions League representatives this year while PSG is the only professional club in Paris.

The invading fans at Lens were not so much angry as they were devastated.

That is poor consolation for Lens, however, who will be watching a less popular Toulouse and a constantly unstable PSG play in the topflight while they have to face the consequences of playing in the second division, both monetarily and sportingly.