PSG alone in the world, OL in danger, Marseille on board… Where are we before the restart?

After a three-week break, Ligue 1 resumes this weekend, after a first half of the championship full of surprises.

Ligue 1 regains its rights. After three weeks of break, the Talent League series is back this weekend, to launch the second phase of the championship. There are only seventeen days left in this Ligue 1, which has been reduced to eighteen clubs since last summer. Halfway through, we probably already know the identity of the future French champion but, for the rest, the suspense remains.

Paris: a long, not-so-quiet river

On a sporting level, all the lights are green for PSG, at the time of returning to Ligue 1. Large winners of the Revel amateurs, last Sunday in the Coupe de France (9-0), Luis Enrique’s men are comfortably installed at the top of the championship, already five points ahead of the runner-up from Nice. Beaten only once in the first leg (by Nice, in fact), PSG is heading straight towards a twelfth French championship title. As is often the case, the main threat to Parisians is… Parisians. Because behind the scenes, the storm is brewing in a club caught in a multitude of affairs.

While PSG has officially given up on the Stade de France, it is once again engaged in a standoff with Paris town hall for the purchase of the Parc des Princes. Recent revelations from Mediapart have also cast a chill over the club, while Insoumise MP Manon Aubry has taken legal action to “complicity in tax fraud”. All while the club must deal with the contractual situation of Kylian Mbappé, free at the end of the season. In the middle of all this, the Champions League round of 16 against Real Sociedad had better go well for a club which, despite these waves, is riding the championship.

Franceinfo: sport gets wet: PSG will be champion with an 11-point lead.

Brest and Nice: the coast of wear and tear?

Riding the momentum will also be the objective of OGC Nice and Stade Brestois. The two surprises at the start of the season, second and fourth respectively in Ligue 1, will begin the hard part: confirmation. While the Nice project has been slipping since the arrival of Ineos in 2019, this year could finally be the right one. Best defense in France, Francesco Farioli’s men were the only ones to beat PSG in the first leg, while also taking on Lens, Marseille, Rennes and Monaco. Undefeated against members of the top 10, the Aiglons waited until December 16 to fall behind, after a good series of 15 matches.

The Niçois will now have to confirm to keep their place on the podium, they who are four points ahead of fourth. A fourth which remains THE big surprise of the season, since it is the Stade Brestois. Arriving last winter in Finistère to save Brest from relegation, Eric Roy not only succeeded in his mission, but transformed the small Breton club into a surprise candidate for Europe. All while deploying an attractive game. To keep the wind in their sails, however, the Bretons will have to learn to defeat the big names in the championship, which has not been the case for the moment.

Franceinfo: sport gets wet: Nice will remain on the podium, Brest will finish 9th.

Podium: who to support PSG?

Resisting promises to be all the harder for Nice and Brest as they are surrounded by a pack of podium contenders. If the Aiglons (re)start with two steps ahead, they will above all have to be wary of their Monegasque neighbor. Well established two small points from the OGCN, AS Monaco delivered a convincing first part of the season, if not successful. Which, casually, was no longer really a habit for Monegasques rather the type to finish strong in recent years. This time, they are there, third, halfway through. Placed, Losc is also placed (5th, three points behind ASM).

But in this 18-a-side championship, where the slightest positive series can change everything, everything happens very quickly. In crisis for a good part of the fall, Gennaro Gattuso’s Marseillais came back to the wire in European places, before the truce. With four points behind Brest, fourth, there is no doubt that the Phocéens will be candidates for the top 4, qualifying for the next Champions League. Which will also be the case for RC Lens (7th, 26 points), which has found some color. Unless the Stade de Reims of sensation Will Still confirms in this second part of the season.

Franceinfo: sport gets wet: Nice (see above) and Monaco, fresher because not engaged on the European scene.

Lyon, an Olympian who is getting back into shape

After eleven days of Ligue 1, Olympique Lyonnais were bottom of the championship, with four small points on the clock. It’s an understatement to say that OL were light years away from their podium ambitions. So, after dismissing Laurent Blanc at the start of the season, then Fabio Grosso at the end of November, Les Gones bet on Pierre Sage, director of the training center. A gamble that paid off. After two defeats against Lens and OM, the Lyonnais had three successes before the break against Toulouse, Monaco and Nantes. Enough to get back out to sea and get out of the red zone.

If it is too early to write that OL are saved from relegation, it is still on the way. Especially since the Lyonnais are showing themselves to be active in the winter transfer window, just to further strengthen a squad designed to play at the top of the table, rather than at the bottom. Still, two clubs will go down to Ligue 2 at the end of the season, while the sixteenth will play a play-off against a Ligue 2 team. In this terrible game, Clermont (18th) and Lorient (17th) seem well on their way. to lose. Currently a barrier, Toulouse will have to show the same face in Ligue 1 as in the Europa League to hope to get out.

Franceinfo: sport gets wet: Clermont and Lorient will be relegated, Toulouse will be barrage.