Ligue 1 Superthread 2016/17

- bo -

irishman86 wrote: »

Have a soft spot for Lens since they challenged back in the day when I was a young lad in France. Them and Nantes would be the two teams I like to see do well

Yeah, I do have a soft spot for Lens myself. They've got the ability to draw massive crowds. They've had some cracking jerseys down the years too - something about that colour scheme. And I love their ground, it's been modernised but still has that traditional, old-school look about it.

Anyways on the football, not a great game in Nantes yesterday but a great results against Angers. Conceicao really is a miracle worker, that's us up from 19th to 9th within 3 months. Hindsight is great and all, but you'd have to imagine we could have been hanging around the European spots if he'd been brought in 3 or 4 weeks earlier...

Mr.Nice Guy

- bo - wrote: »

Anyways on the football, not a great game in Nantes yesterday but a great results against Angers. Conceicao really is a miracle worker, that's us up from 19th to 9th within 3 months. Hindsight is great and all, but you'd have to imagine we could have been hanging around the European spots if he'd been brought in 3 or 4 weeks earlier...

Nakoulma has been a very effective signing.

Mr.Nice Guy

Balotelli scored two goals as Nice won away at Lille 2-1. His first goal was a beauty:

https://twitter.com/pc_tw_futbol/status/850433484644425729

The first half was enjoyable; the second half wasn't as good. Balotelli played very well. He was definitely up for this game. Nice have now gone second but Monaco and PSG have 2 games in hand over them.

- bo -

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Nakoulma has been a very effective signing.

He just always seems to be in the right place when you needed him to latch on to a loose ball. A real poacher and great hold up play too, the man is a tank.

St. Etienne away tomorrow. I'm doing an overnighter for Bohs away to Sligo tonight so I'll be eager to get back in time for it. After ASSE is Bordeaux, so two huge matches. I know full well that I'm building myself up just to be let down here, but it's crazy to think we are two decent results from being in the mix for Europe...

irishman86

- bo - wrote: »

He just always seems to be in the right place when you needed him to latch on to a loose ball. A real poacher and great hold up play too, the man is a tank.

St. Etienne away tomorrow. I'm doing an overnighter for Bohs away to Sligo tonight so I'll be eager to get back in time for it. After ASSE is Bordeaux, so two huge matches. I know full well that I'm building myself up just to be let down here, but it's crazy to think we are two decent results from being in the mix for Europe...

Brought in from turkey right? If he keeps performing like he does he will not stay long. Premier league team will come in possibly in the summer

Mr.Nice Guy

Remarkable results today effecting the bottom of the table, particularly Lorient winning away at Lyon 4-1. :eek: Moukandjo has been brilliant for them. If they survive the drop it will be quite something. Bastia also picked up their first win of the year winning away to fellow strugglers Dijon. If they'd lost that I think they were gone. Nancy beat Rennes 3-0 as well.

As regards the title race, Monaco won away 1-0 at Angers thanks to a Falcao goal. Funny that Monaco have been banging goals in for fun most of the time yet that marginal result could prove massive.

PSG now 6 points off Monaco with their game in hand tomorrow at home to Guingamp. In the reverse fixture earlier in the season Guingamp beat PSG, but I'd be surprised if PSG don't win this. Lot of pressure on them though.

Mr.Nice Guy

Our man Nakoulma on the scoresheet again as Nantes draw 1-1 away to Saint-Etienne. Good win for PSG over Guingamp; it was 0-0 at Half-Time but PSG scored four in the second half. Cavani got two of them. I caught the early game between Toulouse and Marseille that ended 0-0. Best moment was a stunning save from Marseille keeper Pele. Toulouse have been impressive under Dupraz this season.

- bo -

irishman86 wrote: »

Brought in from turkey right? If he keeps performing like he does he will not stay long. Premier league team will come in possibly in the summer

Yep, Kayserispor. The only thing against any move like that is his age I'd say, he's tipping 30 and has actually been around a good while!

Sign of the times when I'm disappointed with a draw away to St. Etienne. It was a fair result, we shut up shop second half after an impressive first. The referee bottled a stone wall peno in injury time for a foul on Nakoulma though, he was bundled over as he passed a defender. Same thing happened a couple of weeks ago at home to Nice.

irishman86

- bo - wrote: »

Yep, Kayserispor. The only thing against any move like that is his age I'd say, he's tipping 30 and has actually been around a good while!

Sign of the times when I'm disappointed with a draw away to St. Etienne. It was a fair result, we shut up shop second half after an impressive first. The referee bottled a stone wall peno in injury time for a foul on Nakoulma though, he was bundled over as he passed a defender. Same thing happened a couple of weeks ago at home to Nice.

Funny how he went over looked for so long, still at his age a Hull/Sunderland could take a shot.

Mr.Nice Guy

Good 2-0 win for PSG away to Angers last night which puts them level on points with Monaco, who are at home to Dijon later (match is on BT Sport Extra 3).

Angers caused plenty of problems. I thought young Nicolas Pepe was their best player. Trapp had to make some good stops to keep them out. Di Maria was the difference for PSG, scoring both goals. First one was a beautiful free-kick. He's been great since Draxler's arrival.

Hope Monaco can do the business later and not get distracted by the Champions League tie.

Johner

Big win for Monaco last night after going 1-0 down. That was the sign of champions, really hope they go on and win the league. Their goal difference could win it for them.

Mr.Nice Guy

Johner wrote: »

Big win for Monaco last night after going 1-0 down. That was the sign of champions, really hope they go on and win the league. Their goal difference could win it for them.

Yeah that was a huge result. It was looking bad for them before Falcao came on. Two superb free-kicks from him, especially the winning goal. Monaco were unlucky to see Glik's goal ruled out, supposedly for Falcao interfering with play - that looked a bad call to me.

Also pleased to see Nice secure the Champions League spot. They can't be caught for third place now. Great season for them. They'll go into the 3rd round of the Champions League if I recall correctly. Lyon could be the 4th team in the competition if they win the Europa League.

It's been a very enjoyable season. Still a lot to play for at the top and bottom. The games today will have an effect on the bottom and the Europa League places. Marseille vs Saint-Etienne is the evening game tonight; that could be a good one.

Blazer

Bastia vs Lyon match cancelled due to crowd trouble at half time.
Shocking stuff.

https://www.google.ie/amp/www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/lyon-players-video-attacked-by-bastia-fans-as-they-warm-up-for-ligue-1-clash-a7686411.html?amp

Agent Coulson

Second time in a few days that there has been crowd trouble at a Lyon game.

Harry Palmr

True but they appear to be sinned against here. Bastia are on Corsica so should be easy to deal with - just put in a travel ban.

Blazer

Harry Palmr wrote: »

True but they appear to be sinned against here. Bastia are on Corsica so should be easy to deal with - just put in a travel ban.

And that's twice for Bastia, don't seem to have the nicest of followers

HalloweenJack

What a beautiful goal by Gomis. He's at his level but he's a bloody beast in Ligue 1.

2-0 Marseille. Pretty good game here, plenty of excitement.

Mr.Nice Guy

Bastia have been in trouble already this season. I think they will get a stiff punishment from the authorities. One of the stewards tried to attack Lyon players and he is set to be sacked. The temperament of the players has been appalling as well. They've notched up a ridiculous number of red cards.

Great win for Marseille last night. Thauvin is continuing his resurgence and Gomis scored a great goal. If they sign a quality defender, another striker, and a defensive midfielder, I think they could make a go for the Champions League next season. Maybe even be a dark horse for the title.

ERG89

PSG. Talk about blowing it. >.<
3-2 up now. Metz hit the bar 1 minute ago :eek:

Mars Bar

What a game! PSG win it at the death not long after Metz hit the crossbar with a free kick to almost win it!

Mr.Nice Guy

Had a look at the game between Nancy and Marseille earlier. It finished 0-0 though it was more eventful than the scoreline suggests. Thauvin hit the post for Marseille; Maouassa hit the post for Nancy. A draw was probably the right result. Marseille were missing Gomis up top and Njie who played in his absence was poor. He's on loan from Spurs and I can't say I've been impressed with him whenever I've seen him. He's quite scatterbrained on the ball.

PSG are at home to Montpellier tomorrow. You'd fancy PSG to win that.

Lorient vs Metz and Dijon vs Angers will be big games in the battle to avoid the drop. Both of those are tomorrow as well.

The best tie of the round is the Sunday evening game with Lyon at home to Monaco. That's a huge hurdle for Monaco to overcome. The fact Lyon went all the way to penalties away to Besiktas might give Monaco an edge though.

HalloweenJack

PSG playing some lovely stuff. Nice goal by Cavani there.

HalloweenJack

2-0 with an impressive strike from Di Maria. Was actually a pretty even game in terms of chances in the first half but PSG have shot out of the blocks at the start of the second half.

Johner

Huge win for Monaco in their toughest remaining league game. Can't see them losing it from here.

Mr.Nice Guy

Massive obstacle successfully dealt with by Monaco. I thought that looked their toughest fixture on paper. Still a lot of work to be done and they will have a busier run-in than PSG due to the Champions League ties, but I hope they go all the way now.

PSG have a very tricky game next themselves away to Nice.

Mr.Nice Guy

PSG beat Monaco 5-0 last night to reach the French Cup Final. Jardim played a second string side which was a very ballsy move - if it ultimately pays off. PSG meet Angers in the final now. A PSG win means sixth place in Ligue 1 gets a Europa League place.

In other news the Ligue 1 end of season nominees have been announced:


Young Player of Season

Mbappe
Lemar
Cyprien
Rabiot


Can't quibble too much with these nominees. For me, Mbappe has to win this. He's been exceptional.


Goalkeeper of the Season

Subasic
Lopes
Reynet
Trapp


I don't like this list of nominees at all. Trapp wasn't first choice for the first half of the season and while he did well when he came in for Areola, he doesn't warrant being mentioned here imo. Subasic also I think is a suspect choice. I would replace those two with Ruffier and Lafont. Ruffier is my goalkeeper of the season, but out of this list I think I'd go with Lopes.


Manager of the Season

Emery
Favre
Gourvennec
Jardim


I think this has to be Jardim, but Favre has done well too. Emery being on the list is a bit questionable considering the difference in PSG this season compared to last season. Conceicao did great for Nantes when he came in but hasn't been there long enough perhaps to be listed. I think Dupraz has done well for Toulouse with a young squad. He's improved them.


Player of the Season

Cavani
Lacazette
Verratti
Bernardo Silva


This is an open award. For me, it would be Bernardo Silva. I think he's been fantastic whenever I've seen him. I hope he wins it. I'd question Lacazette being there even though I think he'd make my team of the season. Fabinho, Bakayoko or Seri would have been deserving of that spot imo.

Mr.Nice Guy

Lyon won 2-1 away to Angers tonight. It was a pretty weird game. Angers dominated the first half and had the better of things yet thanks to some bad goalkeeping from Letellier on two occasions, Lyon managed to go in at half-time 2-0 in front. Angers had something like 11 efforts in the first half and Lyon scored from their two chances.

Angers did pretty well in the second half too but Pavlovic got a straight red for a bad tackle on Tolisso and that left it hard for Angers. Pretty worrying for Lyon that Tolisso was stretchered off. If they miss him for the rest of the season that will be a big blow to their Europa League hopes, even though tonight he had a quiet game.

Johner

Nice are 2-0 up against PSG. Looking good for Monaco.

Johner

2-1....

Johner

3-1 and Thiago Motta was sent off for PSG.

Johner

Di Maria now sent off for PSG. Cowardly attempt of a tackle.

Looks like the best side and the most entertaining side in world football are going to win the league, would love to see them win the Champions League as well.

Mr.Nice Guy

That was a cracking game of football! Some great goals scored and plenty of drama.

Massive result in the title race. Maximum number of points PSG can now end up with if they win all their remaining games is 89. Monaco are on 83 points with 4 games to come. Taking into account Monaco's far superior goal difference, two wins for Monaco should secure the title. Here are their remaining games:

vs Nancy (A)
vs Lille (H)
vs Saint-Etienne (H)
vs Rennes (A)

I really hope Monaco go on and do it. I'd be genuinely gutted if they let it slip from here.

Very exciting at the other end of the table too. Only 3 points separate Lorient in 16th from Bastia in 20th.

It's going to be a great end to the season.

- bo -

Seemingly a well deserved win against Lorient at the weekend, even if it was left until the final minute. I was away so didn't get to watch it, but going by the highlights, looks like we battered them.

In even better news, the win was followed up with the announcement that Conceicao has been tied down with a new contract until 2020. There were strong rumours the past couple of months that he was wanted elsewhere. If he can keep the bulk of the squad he has, next season could be very exciting. I'm probably like a broken record going on about him on this thread, but the turnaround has been phenomenal since his arrival.

- bo -

I'm also hoping Monaco can keep their nerve and get it wrapped up in the next couple of games, even with the distraction of Europe. They've been unbelievably entertaining and simply have to have at least a league title to show for it.

Mr.Nice Guy

Interesting live game tonight on BT Sport 3 with Saint-Etienne taking on Bordeaux. (kick-off 7.45) It's pretty much a must-win game for Saint-Etienne to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for Europe.

Really looking forward to Saturday's game between Nancy and Monaco. I think that could be a tricky enough game for Monaco as it's never easy against a team fighting for their lives. That game is on TV as well: BT Sport ESPN at 7 pm.

PSG are at home to Bastia tomorrow which should be a straightforward win for Emery's team.

irishman86

Cavani needs 5 goals to match Zlatans tally for last season, looks a step to far. I thought hed do it earlier but seemed to go a few games without scoring if I remember correctly

HalloweenJack

Straightforward 3-0 win for Monaco at Nancy. Mbappe was rested for a long part too.

Mr.Nice Guy

Great result for Monaco. I thought that would be a nervy game for them but Nancy were really disappointing. Monaco's first goal was a bit of a freakish one that beat N'Dy Assembe at his near post and they never recovered from that. Mbappe looked great at the end even though it was just a ten minute cameo.

The result means Monaco can now clinch the title next week with a win at home vs Lille in front of their own fans.

PSG beat Bastia 5-0 at home which was no great surprise. The big talking point was Verratti scoring a goal while Bastia keeper Leca was checking on Matuidi who was on the ground:

https://twitter.com/FussballKevMaxi/status/860905619347451904

Opinions are divided on the rights and wrongs of this. I think it was poor sportsmanship on Verratti's part.

Some very interesting results affecting the bottom of the table tonight too. Metz are safe after winning 2-0 away to Lille, and Caen are out of the bottom three after a surprising 1-0 win away to Toulouse. It means we've got 5 teams in the mix to wind up relegated/in the play-off: Bastia, Nancy, Dijon, Caen and Lorient. Next week sees Bastia take on Lorient and Dijon facing Nancy, so next week's round of matches are going to be fantastic viewing.

Jelle1880

Seems that Anderlecht's Youri Tielemans is moving to Monaco then, 23m euro.

Good deal for both clubs and Tielemans I'd say.

irishman86

Ligue 2 this season :eek:

lassykk

irishman86 wrote: »

Ligue 2 this season :eek:

Now that will be an exciting last day of the season

irishman86

lassykk wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Mid table or win the league, its time to watch... drumroll please.....Ligue 2

Mr.Nice Guy

Monaco pretty much won the league tonight with a 4-0 home win over Lille. It's not mathematically final yet but the best PSG can do is go level on points - and they've 17 goals less than Monaco; so it's effecively over. PSG did their bit at least with a 5-0 win tonight away to Saint-Etienne.

I'm delighted Monaco will get something for their swashbuckling play this season. It's a first title since 2000-01. They will lift the trophy on Wednesday if they get at least a point at home to Saint-Etienne. BT Sport will be showing the game.

Exciting stuff at the bottom as well with Bastia beating Lorient 2-0 and Dijon beating Nancy by the same score. It means the best Nancy can do is finish 18th and be in the relegation play-off. All the others (plus Caen who lost to Rennes tonight) have a chance of survival going into the final round.

irishman86

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Monaco pretty much won the league tonight with a 4-0 home win over Lille. It's not mathematically final yet but the best PSG can do is go level on points - and they've 17 goals less than Monaco; so it's effecively over. PSG did their bit at least with a 5-0 win tonight away to Saint-Etienne.

I'm delighted Monaco will get something for their swashbuckling play this season. It's a first title since 2000-01. They will lift the trophy on Wednesday if they get at least a point at home to Saint-Etienne. BT Sport will be showing the game.

Exciting stuff at the bottom as well with Bastia beating Lorient 2-0 and Dijon beating Nancy by the same score. It means the best Nancy can do is finish 18th and be in the relegation play-off. All the others (plus Caen who lost to Rennes tonight) have a chance of survival going into the final round.

Blanc at home laughing his head off. I think PSG had just presumed they would canter to the league again. They under estimated Zlatan leaving and his ability to get his team mates to play better.
Cavani is probably as good a striker but he just doesnt have that ability to single handed win games that are dodgy

Mr.Nice Guy

Cogratulations to Monaco who got their hands on the championship trophy last night after a 2-0 win over Saint-Etienne. Mbappe got on the scoresheet yet again, as did Germain.

You wonder how many of their squad will still be around after the summer window, but it's been great fun to watch them.

Johner

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Cogratulations to Monaco who got their hands on the championship trophy last night after a 2-0 win over Saint-Etienne. Mbappe got on the scoresheet yet again, as did Germain.

You wonder how many of their squad will still be around after the summer window, but it's been great fun to watch them.

Delighted for them, an absolute joy to watch.

Strasbourg should ensure there is no title drama in Ligue 2 but I've given up predicting that league. 6 teams in with a chance of winning the league is just crazy.

HalloweenJack

It would be great for Ligue 1 if Monaco can hold on to their players.

If they have two teams regularly making splashes in Europe, it will sure help the league move forward.

Richard Hillman

Troyes scored with the last kick of the game after being 2-0 down, knocking Lens out. Scenes.

I watching a Redzone programme on Bein France, all the action and goals, it was unbelievable.

R00ster

I think they even got ahead of Amiens for a few moments. Amiens started 2nd, were 6th in injury time, but scored at the death and finished 2nd.

http://m.goal.com/s/en/news/8/main/2017/05/20/35666132/video-strasbourg-amiens-clinch-dramatic-promotion-to-ligue-1

Richard Hillman

Sorry was meant to say Amiens scored with the last kick