There was moaning when the league was slimmed down but stronger sides are being fielded in various competitions
When France made the decision to go down to 18 teams in Ligue 1 for this season, there was no small amount of hand-wringing. Already, the league was missing stalwarts such as Bordeaux and Saint-Étienne. Toulouse and Lens, who had experienced European football with some consistency this century, had also recently been in the second tier, as had Monaco, prior to their takeover by Dimtry Ryblovlev.
Were more big names to go down (see Lyon’s struggles this season and Lens’ poor domestic form to kick off the campaign), the French top flight could be in jeopardy of losing some of its international appeal. However, while there may be some merit to those worries, the benefits to the quality of the league in terms of tighter competition and less fixture congestion have been manifest this season, particularly in Europe.
Continue reading…There was moaning when the league was slimmed down but stronger sides are being fielded in various competitionsWhen France made the decision to go down to 18 teams in Ligue 1 for this season, there was no small amount of hand-wringing. Already, the league was missing stalwarts such as Bordeaux and Saint-Étienne. Toulouse and Lens, who had experienced European football with some consistency this century, had also recently been in the second tier, as had Monaco, prior to their takeover by Dimtry Ryblovlev.Were more big names to go down (see Lyon’s struggles this season and Lens’ poor domestic form to kick off the campaign), the French top flight could be in jeopardy of losing some of its international appeal. However, while there may be some merit to those worries, the benefits to the quality of the league in terms of tighter competition and less fixture congestion have been manifest this season, particularly in Europe. Continue reading…