No end in
sight for PSG’s
dominance
FLORIAN THAUVIN
(Marseille)
The 27-year-old midfielder
missed most of last season
through injury, but is now a far
better player than when he was
in England at Newcastle United.
38 Ligue1 goals in his previous
two seasons, and should
improve again in 2020-21.MAURO ICARDI
(Paris Saint-Germain)
With the departure of Edinson
Cavani, Icardi now needs to
step up and become the main
goal man in the French capital.
Signed until 2024 after scoring
20 goals on loan last season,
the Argentine is well placed
to make his mark.EDUARDO CAMAVINGA
(Rennes)
The ridiculously talented
and mature midfielder will
continue his development in
Ligue1 despite serious interest
from Real Madrid. Played 25
games last campaign, even
though he doesn’t turn
18 until November.W
hile the restofEurope’s
top leagues somehow
found a way to complete
their 2019-20 league
seasons behind closed doors, the
French – as is often their way –
chose to do things differently.
Governing body the LFP suspended
both Ligue1 and Ligue 2 on March13,
and with all sporting events in the
country banned until September, on
April 28 they announced that neither
competition would resume. Paris
Saint-Germain were crowned Ligue1
Champions having topped the table by
12 points with a game in hand when the
virus stopped play. After a bit of a legal
kerfuffle, it was finally decided that the
two bottom sides Amiens and Toulouse
would be relegated and replaced by
Lorient and Lens for the new season,
which got underway on August 21
when Bordeaux drew 0-0 with Nantes
in a Friday-night curtain-raiser.
It’s hard to know how the unusual
routine experienced by French sides this
year will affect their European chances
in 2020-21 (PSG, Marseille and Rennes
are in the Champions League, and Lille
and Nice are in the Europa League).
But given PSG and Lyon’s top displays
in the Champions League in August, it
looks like it may actually benefit them.Top dogs PSG are in something of
a transitional phase right now, with two
of the club’s talismen, striker Edinson
Cavani and defender Thiago Silva,
having left as free agents this summer.
But head coach Thomas Tuchel still has
a hugely impressive squad of players
at his disposal, with Neymar, Kylian
Mbappe, Marquinhos and Mauro Icardi
just four players any club in Europe
would like to have on their books. Such
a plethora of talent has given the club
a headache, in that they’ve been
unable to hold on to many of their
talented youngsters, frustrated by what
they see as an impassable route to the
first team. In the summer, PSG lost two
highly-rated18-year-olds – midfielder
Adil Aouchiche to Ligue1 rivalsSeason preview2020-21
FRANCE LIGUE 1
Winners...PSG
completed their
fourth domesticPLAYERSTOWATCH treble in six seasons