It is extremely unusual to think a new Ligue 1 campaign is just beginning when the previous season has not quite concluded.
But there again the calendar year of 2020 has been anything but ‘normal’ – however you define that!
And here we are, 167 days after the 2019/20 French season was abandoned and we are back.
In truth, the start wasnt really worth the wait with few Ligue 1 highlights.
Bordeaux and Nantes had the honour of playing the season-opener after the initially scheduled match, between Marseille and Saint-Etienne, was postponed following four positive coronavirus tests at Marseille.
However, there was only one shot from inside the box in the entire game, the lowest total in a Ligue 1 match since data was first recorded in 2006-07.
A quick look at the SBOBET Ligue 1 betting odds suggests both of these sides will be around the mid-table mark again – Bordeaux could prove dangerous under astute, former St Étienne coach Jean Louis-Gasset – but they both have an incentive to improve and there’s plenty to look forward to in this new campaign.
While Paris St Germain look forward to the Champions League Final, and Lyon rest after their heroic European adventure, all other clubs are fully focused on the return to domestic action.
The French footballing authorities have some making up to do too after taking the premature decision to abandon last season – the only leading European league to not complete its season following the Covid-19 stoppage in March.
A good start is that fans are coming back to stadiums with up to 5,000 mask-wearing, socially distant fans allowed in each Ligue 1 game, as they were at both cup finals last month.
This is arguably Europe’s most competitive league.
With the exception of PSG, whose wealth pretty much outweighs every side in modern football, many of the other sides in the division seem evenly matched.
With Marseille, Lyon, Lille and Monaco in transition, the promoted Lorient and Lens looking competitive and everyone in between boasting talent of their own – at least until Premier League clubs come along for their yearly pillage – Ligue 1 could be quite some scrap from top to bottom.
At the top end, I expect changes and different sides in second and third.
Marseille were the runners-up last season, but would they have finished second if the season hadn’t been curtailed?
Andre Villas-Boas may have led his charges into the Champions League, but they haven’t strengthened their squad and, unless they improve, it will be hard for them to replicate their runners-up spot.
Even harder to repeat will be Rennes’ third-place finish. An inexperienced side, they also have to contend with Champions League football.
To me that leaves Rudi Garcia’sLyon – free of European football – to push PSG closest,
They have caught the eye in recent weeks due to their Champions League run, where they knocked out Serie A winners Juventus and Premier League runners-up Manchester City, and the churn of academy products rarely seems to hurt them.
Keeping hold of players such as Memphis Depay, Moussa Dembele and, perhaps most crucially of all, HoussemAouar is key. The silky skilled midfielder is renowned for his composure on the ball and playmaking ability. At 22, he’s played 97 matches for the club and remains their creative fulcrum.
What of Monaco – who lost most of the players who guided them to the Champions League semi-finals three years ago. Well I don’t think they will make the top three but they should improve with former Bayern Munich manager Niko Kovač appointed as coach and sporting director Paul Mitchell overseeing matters.
For Lille, the loss of marksman Victor Osimhen to Napoli is a blow but it will be interesting to see how highly-rated young Canadian Jonathan David, signed from Gent, fares in the division.
Nice appear to have made some promising moves in the transfer window with the acquisition of Sevilla winger Rony Lopes and Morgan Schneiderlin from Everton.
As for the top scorer award, assuming both can stay fit, then the duo who shared last year’s gong will be again among the front-runners.
In Kylian Mbappe, PSG have the outstanding young talent in world football, while Wissam Ben Yedder is the real deal for Monaco – his 18 goals a good return in the shortened campaign following his fruitful time at Sevilla.
The overriding question though is, can any side prevent PSG from winning Ligue 1. Unless a billionaire arrives on the scene, of course they can’t!
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