Lens knew how to exit through the front door. Eliminated from the Champions League at the end of the fifth group match, the Artésiens won against Sevilla during the last meeting, Tuesday December 12, to win a ticket for the Europa League. A success which does not erase the historic rout of the Sang et Or, against Arsenal, 6-0, at the end of November, the biggest defeat of a French club in C1. Next to, PSG’s qualification – in pain – for the round of 16 does not constitute a huge surprise. It must be said that for ten years, the Ile-de-France team has come out of the pools every year, unlike its Ligue 1 counterparts, who are clearly not yet at the level of the competition.
Since the 2013-2014 season, only three French clubs have managed to escape from the group stages alongside PSG: AS Monaco (2014-2015 and 2016-2017 seasons), Olympique Lyonnais (2018-2019 seasons). and 2019-2020) and LOSC (in 2021-2022). Regularly, the Ile-de-France team is the only one to reach the round of 16. This happened five times between the 2013-2014 and 2022-2023 seasons.
Compared to the four other major European football nations, the French teams are poor students. Over the last ten years, 63% of French clubs have, on average, managed to get past the group stages compared to 90% of English clubs. A statistic, which for France, is largely boosted by the annual qualification of PSG because the French sample is based on the presence of only two teams on six occasions, and three during four seasons. Conversely, the German, Spanish and English samples are based on the presence of between three and five clubs. In quantifiable terms, this means that there are between three and five English clubs in the round of 16 and then between one and two French teams.
But then why can’t French clubs succeed? For the former coach of “Téfécé” and OM in the Champions League, Elie Baup, the fact that Ligue 1 is a hotbed of talent has something to do with it. “We have great training in France, but as soon as we have young people who break through, they leave.”he argues. “We cannot keep the best players. Those of the French team for example, vice-world champions, play abroad”, continues the former coach. After Brazil, France is in fact the second country that exports the most footballers internationally, even PSG, through its star Kylian Mbappé, associated with the summer arrivals of Lucas Hernandez, Ousmane Dembélé and Randal Kolo Muani still took on the appearance of the French team.
An unattractive championship
Behind this first problem, appears a “financial aspect”, estimates Elie Baup. Faced with European behemoths, French clubs would not have enough resources to keep their best players and acquire the stars of the moment. With a budget – yet record – of 118 million euros for the 2023-2024 season, RC Lens is not playing in the same league as Manchester City and its 800 million euros.
But having the budget isn’t everything. “Look at Lens, they didn’t have the same financial means but they fought differently, by having players, a serious coach and a public that supports them. They were beaten 6-0 by Arsenal, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have the level. In the first leg, they beat them 2-1.”, would like to recall the ex-trainer and consultant, Luis Fernandez. In another register, “PSG has been getting by for ten years thanks to its finances but with all the investment, they have only played one final”, does not fail to highlight the former player and coach of the Parisian team. For him, the management problems of certain clubs, like “Lyon or Bordeaux”, are also at the origin of French disillusionment in C1.
A lack of regularity at the highest level
Two clubs which, in the past, carried the French championship. “In other countries, we always find the same clubs pulling others up. Manchester City, Chelsea in England, Bayern Munich, Dortmund in Germany, Real and Barça in Spain… This is not the case In France”, regrets Luis Fernandez. A lack of “regularity” which Elie Baup also points to. “To be competitive, you have to play regularly in the Champions League because it is a different management of players and rest. But it is rarely the same French teams that play in the Champions League. This year there was Lens , in the past, there was Rennes once. The players discover the competition, gain experience over the course of a year, but that is fleeting.”explains the Haut-Garonnais.
PSG is in fact the only French club regularly present in the Champions League with ten participations in ten years. Behind, follow OL and Monaco with four participations. Figures well below the major European clubs. Of course, with regard to the English, Spanish, German and Italian championships which benefit from four directly qualifying places for the Champions League, Ligue 1 can defend itself from having only two direct quotas. But it is clear that in France, the top two in Ligue 1 vary very regularly.
For example, LOSC won Ligue 1 during the 2020-2021 season before finishing eighth in the championship the following year. In comparison, in Portugal, the two qualifying places are played out almost every year between Benfica Lisbon, Sporting Portugal and FC Porto. To note that the third in the French championship also participates each year in the Champions League play-offs. But like OM this season, eliminated by Panathinaikos and returned to the Europa League, this qualifying round did not succeed for the French either. In 10 years, only Monaco has managed to join the C1, in 2016-2017.
The new format of the Champions League expected for the 2024-2025 season which will see the number of competing clubs increase from 32 to 36 could, however, help French clubs find a little stability. “This could allow the best clubs to avoid the preliminary round and therefore provide a form of regularity for the leading trio. A greater number of players could also discover the competition but in the eighth round we risk always finding the same teams”warns Elie Baup.
So, finally, is it already too late for French clubs? The former Girondins coach prefers to remain optimistic. “The transition from Ligue 1 to 18 clubs also aims to increase competitiveness and improve the quality of the teamsunderlines Elie Baup. As we have seen, there is already an evolution of the game, a search to be more efficient, to score more goals… These are very positive things.” It is up to these clubs, from now on, to transcribe it more regularly on the European scene.