COACH OF
THESEASON
Nanteswereexpected
tofightrelegation
but,havingrescued
theclubfromthe drop
viathe play-offslast
season,veteran coach
AntoineKombouare
turnedthesamegroup
ofplayersintocup
winnersandEuropean
challengers. Fewin
Europedidsomuch
withso little.NEWCOMER
OFTHESEASON
Havingmatched
PSGforspendinglast
summer,Lovro Majer
wastheleastheralded
ofRennes’signings
butthe graceful
Croatian,whomore
thanresembles Luka
Modric,became
theclub’s creative
lynchpinandwas
closetounplayable
athisbest.Majerandthe DavidBeckham-esque
BenjaminBourigeaud.Keeping a team
ofsuchovertindividualqualitytogether
willbe tricky, however.
Nice,whowerededucteda point
alongwith Lyon duetocrowdtrouble,
finishedlevelonpoints with Rennes
despitescoring 30 fewer goals(and
concedingjust fourless)andwere
fortunatetodosoasAndyDelort’s final
dayhat-trickoverturneda 2-0deficit
atReimsto pinchEuropeanfootball.
However, lastseason’s title-winning
coach,ChristopheGaltier, struggledwith
balanceallseason andhisteamfaded
badlyafterChristmashavingbeen
favouritesforsecondatonestage.
Althoughtheyendedwith
littlereward,Europeanchargesfrom
StrasbourgandLensamountedtothe
season’smostimpressive feats.Led by
twoof Europe’sbrightest youngcoaches
inJulienStephanandFranck Haise
respectively, both clubswerewithin
reachofEuropeonthe finalday and
outperformedtitle-holders Lilleanda
stackedLyonsquad.Bothmanagers
overtlyimprovedseeminglyworkmanlike
groupsofplayers,manyofwhomwillbe
widelycoveted thissummer– particularly
LensmidfielderSekoFofana.Atthe bottom,havingnarrowly
escapedthe drop last season,Bordeaux’s
slowbutinexorableimplosionsaw the
2009 championsfinishbottomand in
completechaos. Switzerland’s Euro 2 020
coachingheroVladimirPetkovicwas
sackedinFebruarybutthefamously
pragmaticDavid Guion,whotookReims
fromLigue 2 toEurope,couldn’tinstil
thesameorganisationandrigour as 9 1
goalswereconcededintheir 38 games.
A slew of below-parsigningsproved a
majorbarriertosurvival.
FormerArsenaldefenderLaurent
Koscielny wasbanishedwith no warning
inJanuary andeventuallysaw his
contractterminated,somethinghecalled
“arightslapinthe face.” Even without
relegation,Bordeaux’sfinanceswere
alreadyconcerningafter makingthe
fourth-biggest loss(€67m)ofany club
in 20 20-21,and reportsnowsuggest
owner GerardLopezwill need to find
a considerablesumtopreventa slide
downthepyramidthissummer. Even if
Lopezcanstabilisethe club,withLigue 1
soondroppingto 18 teams,findinga way
backupwillbe a majorchallengewith
largechunksof thesquadsettodepart.
Asalways, theextentofthe summer
talentexoduswillcolourmuchof
nextseason.
Withpremier
centre-back
WilliamSaliba’s
loanatMarseille
endingand
othersmovingon,Sampaoliwill need
anentirelynew defence. No European
football will make it difficultforLyon
toaccountforthelikelydeparturesof
LucasPaqueta,HoussemAouarand
others.Nicehavetheresources to
holdontotheirbest playersbut
Galtier,stubbornlystickingtohis
title-winning4-4-2, hasmorework
todothanmoststylistically. Meanwhile,
however, althougha majorpoliticalwin
forFrench footballand PSG, Mbappe’s
newdealshouldensure Parisian
dominancefor sometimetocome.WORLDSOCCER 47
Stayingput...
Ligue1Playerof
theYearKylian
Mbappesalutes
theParisSaint-
Germainfans
afteragreeing
anewcontractCreative
lynchpin...
LovroMajerStandoutstar...MbappecollectstheLigue1Player
oftheYearawardforthethirdconsecutivetime
FRANCE:LIGUE 1
EUROSEASONREVIEW
PSG’smostmeaningfultriumphcameasMbappe
surprisinglyagreedanewthree-yearcontract
afteraseasonofspeculationoverhisfuture