The french teams are really coming along in the champions league

CorkMan

Lyon and Bordeaux met in the quarter final last year. This year Lyon and Marseille are in the last 16. It is definitely on par with the Bundesliga now IMO. The Eredivisie below them.

It is good to see the competition being there, pushing the spanish, english and italian sides. I wouldn't be surpised to see one of the french teams making it to the quarter finals this year.

partyndbs

the dutch league is soooooo crap. worse than spl. bundesliga is better than serie a

Oat23

CorkMan wrote: »

Lyon and Bordeaux met in the quarter final last year. This year Lyon and Marseille are in the last 16. It is definitely on par with the Bundesliga now IMO. The Eredivisie below them.

It is good to see the competition being there, pushing the spanish, english and italian sides. I wouldn't be surpised to see one of the french teams making it to the quarter finals this year.

Where do you rank Serie A? I'll admit I don't ''follow'' Ligue 1 I just watch 1 or 2 matches each week. But I don't even think the french league is close to the Bundesliga. I rank Germany ahead of Italy with France behind them. Eridivisie is some way back then.

And I don't see Marseille or Lyon beating their last 16 opponents. Real will show up this time if you ask me.

peabutler

German league is probably on par with Italy but going in opposite directions, The German structure and style could easily see it rise to the top for a few years anyway.

As for France it's found itself a pocket in the market and is taking advantage of it well, buying low and selling high reinvesting the profits etc.

Pauleta

I think Lyon are past the era they could of won it. They are not as strong as previous years. Marseille are a decent side. The French league is fantastic for upcoming talent from Africa. Colonization has really benefited them in the long term :pac:

dsmythy

Schalke are in the same stage too and are only a mid table team in the Bundesliga this year. They beat Lyon to the top of their group too. I'd say the Bundesliga is still well ahead of the French league and about to overtake Serie A.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Although they got to the semi's last year, that's a bit of a false reflection. Lyon's golden era was in the middle of the noughties.

Dempsey

Ligue 1 is another league being propped up by its TV deal.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

It goes;
1 = Premiership/La Liga (don't want to derail the thread)
3 = Bundesliga
4 = Serie A
5 = Portuguese league/Ligue 1
6 = Dutch league
....the rest

regardless of the result tonight. Is that why you made this thread??;)

cson

Bordeaux are 12th this year in Ligue 1. Quite similar to Schalke.

Neither Marseille or Lyon are making it past the Round of 16 this year in the Champions League whilst the likely winners of Ligue 1 this year Lille are going to go backwards once the big clubs get a hold of Hazard and Gervinho.

Considering Lyon monopolised it for 9 odd years its good to see the league is competitive again but at the same time I wouldn't think its as strong as you make it out to be. The UEFA coefficent is broadly right imo; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_coefficient#Association_coefficient_.28.22League_coefficient.22.29

cson

Dempsey wrote: »

Ligue 1 is another league being propped up by its TV deal.

Unlike?....

Every League relies heavily on TV Revenue nowadays.

Dempsey

cson wrote: »

Unlike?....

Every League relies heavily on TV Revenue nowadays.

Most leagues dont have tv deals in excess of 600m or anywhere near it. The Bundesliga improved over the last 10 years because of structural changes to the youth development system etc, Ligue improved because Canal+ and lately, Orange, are throwing ridiculous amount of money at boring league.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

What is French footy typically like? Are the crowds rubbish because it's boring or has football never properly 'immersed' France? Or both?

cson

You could say the same for Sky vis a vis the Premiership.

Anyway I'll leave it there, this is going off topic.

Edit: Having watched a lot of it when Setanta carried it, French Football isn't boring. Or at least it wasn't two years ago.

Oat23

cson wrote: »

Unlike?....

Every League relies heavily on TV Revenue nowadays.

Hardly.

Bundesliga teams in the top and second divisions split €420m a year. Bayern received around €30m last season in TV revenue. The Bundesliga tv deal is a pile of s*ite when it comes to the financial aspect of it.

You could add in money made from foreign rights but why bother? The leagues foreign rights money is a pathetic €30m a season, the EPL earns 10 times more from foreign rights and double from domestic rights.

cson

Ok I'll accept the Bundesliga is the exception - probably evidenced by the competitiveness of it over the last few years.

Warper

cson wrote: »

Bordeaux are 12th this year in Ligue 1. Quite similar to Schalke.

Neither Marseille or Lyon are making it past the Round of 16 this year in the Champions League whilst the likely winners of Ligue 1 this year Lille are going to go backwards once the big clubs get a hold of Hazard and Gervinho.

Considering Lyon monopolised it for 9 odd years its good to see the league is competitive again but at the same time I wouldn't think its as strong as you make it out to be. The UEFA coefficent is broadly right imo; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_coefficient#Association_coefficient_.28.22League_coefficient.22.29

Had a look at that. Ukraine gort the highest rating in 2008-09. Fair enough, Shaktar won the UEFA Cup that year but come on. Any calculations that has those sort of allocations need to be looked at.

Vokes

The co-efficient s based on the previous 5 years of collective performance in european tournaments iirc.

greendom

Let's see how Lyon and Marseille get on in this round of the Champions League. If Lyon can beat Madrid again (surely Madrid's bogey team) and Marseille manage to knock out Man U then then the evidence would help to support the OP's argument.

The truth of the matter is though the best players in the French league move on, primarily to England but also to Spain and Germany. These leagues have much more financial clout than the French one.

I think Loic Remy turned down West Ham to go to Marseille but he is the exception - and if a bigger English or Spanish club had come knocking, I'm sure he would have left France too.

Smokin_Aces

greendom wrote: »

Let's see how Lyon and Marseille get on in this round of the Champions League. If Lyon can beat Madrid again (surely Madrid's bogey team) and Marseille manage to knock out Man U then then the evidence would help to support the OP's argument.

The truth of the matter is though the best players in the French league move on, primarily to England but also to Spain and Germany. These leagues have much more financial clout than the French one.

I think Loic Remy turned down West Ham to go to Marseille but he is the exception - and if a bigger English or Spanish club had come knocking, I'm sure he would have left France too.

And don't forget Yoann Gourcuff who moved to Lyon from Bordeaux last summer.

Dempsey

More and more you'll only see the top players of ligue 1 making the move to the EPL these days because the average wage in the league has increased alot (due to tv revenue). Also you have to consider the tax rates, England is currently 50% & Spain is 24% for foreigners, and the fact that players negotiate gross pay in England rather than net pay on the continent.

dreamers75

All goals tonight were scored by Frenchmen, think they have 37 for the compo. infostrada stat.