All 3 Europa League teams are still in a good position to qualify. No one is lower than 2nd. Good thing for us that Europa League and Champions Leagues gives you the same amount of points.
Time for some Europa action again Tuesday Paris SG - Dinamo Zagreb 20:45 @ Parc des Princes, Paris Olympiakos - Montpellier 20:45 @Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus Wednesday FC Bayern - Lille 20:45 @ Allianz Arena, Munich Thursday Marseille - M'gladbach 19:00 @ Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Bordeaux - Martimo 19:00 @ Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux Athletic Bilbao - Lyon 21:05 @ San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao Three home victories would put PSG/OM/Bordeaux all in a good position to make the knock-out stage.
PSG, has to win, should win. Montpellier, dont really care about them anymore but it would be nice to win this one since its definately winnable. If I had to pick only one of those games to watch it would be PSG-Zagreb.
Montpellier are out and Lille will join them tomorrow . Or are they out already ? These two teams have only managed 1 point between them ( 7 games ) They won't even finish in a EL place either This is so sad . I thought Olympiakos would atleast be on the same level as Montpellier but it looks like the greek champions are stronger than the french champions
If they lose (or tie even?) Lille are indeed finished. And I expected much better from Montpellier too, they've been surprising this year, I don't know what's going on over there. Fingers crossed for OM, Diawara possibly back?
even if lille win this game or the next game they could still not get anything out of it the moment giroud left mhsc I knew they were going to struggle, its hard to replace a 20+ goalscorer and one of the centerpieces of the squad with herrera who has only managed 2 league goals in 10 appearances, or the other supposed replacement;charbonnier (0 goals) mhsc have youth depth, but not quality in depth something needed to manage CL+ ligue 1 + cups successfully
Emanuel Herrera is one of the biggest flops of the summer. They probably would have been better off signing someone like Brandao instead. They wanted to invest in the future instead of the right now and for Champions League that is bad.
Agreed. Concerning Giroud, he was always going to be hard to replace, but I figured Girard knew what he was doing, especially with Charbonnier and his performances in the past 2 seasons in Ligue 2, he looked promising. As SportBoy said though, a signing for the future.. Dommage for them! I predicted a Europa League spot for next season, maybe top 10 might look a little more accurate but it's still early, we'll see how things shape up.
I dont care if the Lille metropolitan area is one of the largest in France or if their stadium is one of the best in France, their actual team isnt very large. They arent going to learn their lesson either. When Rudi Garcia leaves he's just gonna be replaced with a manager like Francois Gillot from Bordeaux. They wont go out and hire the best manager possible like the real big clubs do (PSG and Monaco.)
its hard to pick names that are not french, have expressed interest in coaching a ligue 1 team and are "good enough", and also available or willing to part for lille(which is purely opinion/speculation) guardiola? dont see that as feasible allegri(if he gets the boot)? ehh... martin jol? more feasible pelligrini? he probably stay in spain roberto martinez? possible but he likes england you look at the top 50 managers or so and I just don't see someone who would part from their club and join lille's project
It doesnt matter because if you got the cash they will come. See PSG and Monaco (Ancellotti and Ranieri.)
the cases of MHSC and LOSC are much different. montpellier is not destined to remain at the top of the heap for long; their title will be the high point of their history and that will be OK with them, their prez and their fans. lille on the other hand really intends to become a perennial major player and both the means at their disposal and the way they put the pieces together to become champions shows that's no utopia. but when you put that destiny in the hands of tocards like payet and roux, just what can you expect? i predict that valenciennes will finish ahead of them this season.
By the way, theres a reason why PSG doesnt want to recruit French players. If they did they'd end up with guys like Marvin Martin and Dimitri Payet.
Ultimately it's the fault of Marseille and Lyon for giving them the opportunity to be in the champions league in the first place. The "ideal" situation in terms of league ranking is obviously would be PSG/OM/Lyon/Bordeaux/Monaco as the teams representing us in Europe year after year with a few surprise teams like Saint-Etienne mixed in. Of course one could hope or think that Lille would become a more stable performer in Europe with more experience but they seem to regress in terms of their European play, I mean even Auxerre got a point in a much tougher group.
Hmmm I'm not sure. I know before Marseille hired Baup there were rumors of them hiring the Borussia Monchengladbach coach who isnt French. Also Fabrizio Ravenilli was rumored. Doesnt seem like there's any French teams that have the cash anymore other than the ones I mentioned who got bought by foreigners. The French team with the richest French owner is probably Rennes but he will never spend big on football. You could say this is all nonsense since Bate Borisov have 6 pts and they dont have a big name manager or a big budget and yet they still smoked Lille. I look at it this way. Bate Borisov is low profile and plays in a league that isnt heavily scouted and raided by other clubs so its easier for them to build a great team. Ligue 1 is heavily scouted and raided by other clubs so any team that has success (Lille, Montpellier) will lose key players thus its harder to build a great team. Thats the advantage Bate Borisov has over Lille.
Tuesday BATE Borisov - Lille 0-2 Wednesday Dinamo Kiev - Paris SG 20:45 @ Olympic Stadium, Kiev Arsenal - Montpellier 20:45 @ Emirates Stadium, London Thursday Sparta Prague - Lyon 19:00 @ Generali Arena, Prague Marseille - Fenerbache 21:05 @ Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Club Brugge - Bordeaux 21:05 @ Jan Dreydel Stadium Bruges So Lille reclaimed some honor finally winning a game, too little too late though unfortunately as BATE will have a better h2h record even if Lille beat Valencia in the last game. Important night for PSG, one point will be enough to qualify. Make or break time for Marseille while Bordeaux needs a draw in Belgium to qualify.
Marseille - Fenerbache I really want to see that one but dont think Ill be able to because of the holiday. Really a black cloud going around that club right now. MLD not selling anytime soon, no Drogba coming, and the Ayew brothers saying they'd have no problems going to West Ham. They really need a big win here to restore some good feelings to the club. No need to care about the other games since OL are already in and Bordeaux are playing a weaker team who they should beat or draw. Champions League I havent had much interest in since PSG was in a weak group and Lille and Montpellier were too weak themselves.
draw for lyon but they already qualified, OM losing 0-1, bordeaux up 2-0! bordeaux might be able to snatch 1st place from newcastle when they play them at home
bordeaux qualificatio & 1st! a draw or win and we can avoid a CL team elsewhere OM lost and have to rely on fener to beat gladbach while improving their goal difference in order to get 2nd mixed week for france PSG & Lille win in CL, montpellier lose Bordeaux win, OL draw, and OM lose in EL