Bidwell poses tenBidwell poses ten

questions that need answeringquestions that need answering

in this season’s Championsin this season’s Champions

League campaignLeague campaign

10

1. Can Ligue 1

keep up the

pace?

W

ith Paris Saint-Germain finishing

runners-up to Bayern Munich

and Lyon confounding all

expectations to reach the

semi-finals, 2019-20 was a rare season of

glory for French sides in the Champions

League.The pressureisnowonthe Ligue 1

brethren not to slip back into their old

semi-detached ways.

Given their financial muscle, and the depth

of stellar talent in the French capital in the

likes of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Mauro Icardi,

Angel Di Maria, Marco Verratti and Marquinhos,

PSG are sure to be contenders again. But what

of the other Gallic participants?

Marseille, winners of this competition in its

inaugural season as the “Champions League” in

1992-93 and runners-up in Ligue1 last term,

are not in the best of shape. They are in debt

to the tune of€90 million; a large number of

their fans are openly hostile to club movers and

shakers (American owner Frank McCourt and

presidentJacques-Henri Eyraud), and the

off-season has been a period of wall-to-wall

instability – the sacking of director of sport

Andoni Zubizarreta; head coach Andre

Villas-Boas close to quitting in protest before

being talked round; daily rumours of a possible

takeover, the list of would-be buyers including

a Saudi prince, a former French boxer and a

Tunisian businessman.

Looking to reduce their balance sheet

arrears by two-thirds, Marseille have resigned

themselves to offloading one or two of their

best players. Thankfully their number one

creator Dimitri Payet will not be heading

for the door, having extended his contract

• albeit with a 50 per cent pay cut – while
  they have signed some top young talents in
  Pape Gueye and Leonardo Balerdi.
  The contrast with Rennes is significant, and
  not just in terms of European experience. The
  Champions League first-timers are much more
  buoyant going into the new season, with bright
  young coachJulian Stephan assembling a
  formidable unit. They reached the Europa
  League round of16 in 2018-19, beat PSG in
  the French Cup final a few weeks later and
  achieved their best-ever Ligue1 finish last
  term (third). They are a team who fights until
  the death, too – last season they picked up no
  fewer than11 points from goals scored in the
  89th minute and beyond.

The pressure is now on the

Ligue 1 brethren not to slip

back into their old ways