It amused me somewhat, but also surprised me, when my 11 year-old grandson referred to Ligue 1 yesterday as a ‘farmer’s league’.
Of course, they weren’t his own words. I suspect he picked it up at school or from an online video comparing the French top flight unfavourably to some of Europe’s other major leagues.
However, it did get me thinking.
How exactly is it thought of outside France?
How exactly do French fans rate it?
And where it is going next?
I came to one conclusion which was only backed up by a particular result this weekend.
Because for all of the Ligue 1 highlights they create; for all of the SBOTOP Ligue 1 betting odds which make them favourites virtually every game, the top team in the land are really failing to live up to expectations, given their resources dwarf each and every one of their domestic opponents.
Now do not get me wrong.
Paris St Germain deserve credit and are about to clinch yet another title.
They are five points clear of second-place Marseille at the top with five games remaining and could be champions again in under a fortnight.
Their reverse at home to Lorient on Sunday though was their ninth defeat in all competitions since the turn of the year alone and that is nowhere near good enough for a club which has made such a lavish outlay.
Enzo le Fee opened the scoring for Lorient, firing high into the net from a Romain Faivre cutback.
Achraf Hakimi was sent off for the hosts after collecting two yellow cards in 15 minutes.
The ever-dependable Kylian Mbappe, one of the few who should be free of criticism for the Parisiens, equalised for the home side but goals from Darlin Yongwa and Bamba Dieng sealed victory for Lorient.
Yongwa finished into the bottom corner from close range as they took the lead before half-time.
Then, three minutes from the end, Dieng made sure of the three points when he headed in the rebound after Gianluigi Donnarumma had parried his initial effort.
The race is not quite over after two goals in three minutes against basement battlers Auxerre kept alive Marseille’s faint hopes on Sunday evening,
The reality, however is that only Monaco (2017) and Lille (2021) have managed to stop the PSG juggernaut since they became a state-owned super club.
Yet another last-16 exit from the Champions League – Bayern Munich saw them off with ease – has ensured the vultures continue to soar and the futures of their main three superstars will no doubt be debated long and hard again over the months ahead.
Rumours continue to circulate that Barcelona want to return Lionel Messi to Catalonia.
And while that’s not to say Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain will leave Paris, where he is reportedly settled, the yearn for the club where he spent all of his career until being sold in the summer of 2021 for financial reasons provides a big pull.
Were he to leave, it would be another blow to the image of PSG as a home for superstars, but the biggest loss of all to the French league would be Mbappe.
Let’s finish with the story of the weekend and a team which deserves plaudits galore.
Toulouse are the 2023 French Cup winners for the first time in 66 years after they demolished Nantes 5-1.
They arrived at the Stade de France not only as holders but having won the Coupe de France four times.
Two of those came in back-to-back seasons between 1998 and 2000, and the club’s fans packed into the stadium in Paris’ northern suburbs with the hope of history repeating itself.
Instead, Toulouse wrote their own as they became the first team to score four times in the first half of a French Cup Final since Lille achieved the feat against Bordeaux in 1955.
Toulouse were 4-0 up after just 31 minutes, thanks to a brace from Logan Costa and two more goals from prolific Dutch striker Thijs Dallinga.
Zakaria Aboukhlal got the fifth late on after Ludovic Blas had pulled one back from the penalty spot for Nantes.
Toulouse coach Philippe Montanier hailed his side saying they would “go down in the history of the competition”.
Where this leaves Nantes, just above the Ligue 1 drop zone, remains to be seen.
In 16th place due to their superior goal difference, they visit the side directly below them, Brest, in midweek when they will be looking to end a run of nine league games without a win. Confidence could prove the key component with six league games remaining.
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