The 2012-13 Ligue 1 campaign ended with Paris Saint-Germain finally ending their drought as they secured their first Ligue 1 title since 1994. The Parisians have undergone extensive changes since that point, with manager Carlo Ancelotti leaving for Real Madrid and replaced by former France national team coach Laurent Blanc.
A number of new additions have also joined the revolution in progress at the Parc des Princes, but PSG will have to deal with the challenge of newly-promoted Monaco, who have been able to attract some superb talent as they attempt to reach the upper echelons of French football.
The race for the title
Blanc’s men, despite the upheaval that has taken place during the close-season, are favourites to retain their crown. The focus will undoubtedly be on the forward line, with Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic – who had a Ligue 1 high WhoScored rating of 7.81 last term – handed the task of pairing up with new signing Edinson Cavani.
Blanc believes that the duo can be successful and his confidence is well founded. Cavani scored goals at every opportunity for Napoli last season, netting 39 in all competitions. Tactics may prove to be an issue, but as it stands there is no reason why a Cavani-Ibrahimovic strike pairing cannot be a success.
Further back the performances of Blaise Matuidi – the midfielder completed 89% of his passes last campaign – and Thiago Silva (WhoScored rating of 7.35 in the league last season) will be vital to their success.
Monaco will look to Radamel Falcao to spearhead their title charge, the Colombian scored 28 goals in 34 league games for Atletico Madrid in 12-13, who he left in a €60mllion move in May, and manager Claudio Ranieri will be eager for him to replicate that form at the Stade Louis II. However, with so many new additions, the whole side will need to gel for Monaco to get anywhere close to PSG.
Experience will be key, and the likes of Ricardo Carvalho, Eric Abidal and Jérémy Toulalan should provide a calming influence, however it is the supply line to Falaco that will be most crucial to Monaco’s fortunes.
Therefore the former Porto duo of João Moutinho and James Rodríguez will need to perform. Moutinho created the second most chances per game (3.3) and completed 87.5% of his passes in the Champions League last term, while Rodriguez netted once and provided one assist.
After helping Porto to an unbeaten league season last term, they undoubtedly have the quality to create plenty of chances for the hitman, with whom they enjoyed a successful period at Porto.
Marseille are likely to be considered as unlikely to contend for the title, but it is worth remembering that they finished as runners-up to PSG last term. Les Phoceens’ success was largely built on their defence, Baup’s men ranked 2nd in term of shots conceded per game, with just 9.3.
Nicolas N’Koulou was integral to Marseille’s defensive fortitude, averaging 5 clearances per game in the league, and Baup will be delighted to have kept hold of a player of the 23-year-old’s calibre. However, it was further forward where Marseille struggled and despite the best efforts of Mathieu Valbuena (three goals and 12 assists in the league) and André Pierre-Gignac (13 league goals), they came nowhere close to touching PSG’s final total of 69 goals.
Baup has brought in winger Dimitri Payet from Lille and Evian striker Saber Khelifa to try and remedy this problem, and they should be able to have some kind of influence after impressing in the previous campaign. Payet (12 league goals and 13 assists), was the bright spot in a Lille side that underwhelmed, while Khelifa (13 goals and 3 assists) was the guiding force behind Evian’s successful fight against relegation.
Still, despite the respective additions of Monaco and Marseile, it is difficult to see past PSG, who had an average WhoScored rating of 7.01 in 2012-13, retaining their crown.
The best of the rest
With Monaco and Marseille primed to be PSG’s major challengers in the new campaign, the rest of the division will likely be left to fight for the remaining places in the Europa League.
Nice qualified for Europe after establishing themselves as the surprise package of last season, but following the loss of influential centre-back Renato Civelli, who chipped in with five goals and averaged 6.6 clearances per game, they may well have difficulty repeating the performances they produced last year. Still, manager Claude Puel has been able to keep the nucleus of his side together, and the presence of Dario Cvitanich (19 goals in 29 appearances) is expected to be key to their success.
Saint-Etienne came close to securing a place in the Champions League under Christophe Galtier last term, but the €13million transfer of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Borussia Dortmund has left them with just one senior striker in the form of Brandao. Les Verts’ local rivals Lyon may well be considered as title contenders by a number of observers, but their failure to add to their squad significantly, and the prospective losses of Lisandro López and Bafétimbi Gomis should prevent them from mounting a serious challenge.
The form of talented midfielders Maxime Gonalons, who had a pass completion rate of 88% last term and Clément Grenier (7 goals and 6 assists) will have a huge bearing on Lyon’s fortunes, but their lack of depth should mean that a Europa League finish is the limit of their capabilities.
New Lille manager Rene Girard will have designs on guiding Lille back to the top of Ligue 1, but with Payet, Lucas Digne, Aurélien Chedjou and Benoit Pedretti all leaving the Grand Stade Metropole, Les Dogues are very much in a transition phase. Lorient may be able to mount a charge for Europe if they are able to retain the services of Jérémie Aliadière – 15 goals and nine assists last term – but that should be as much as they can realistically hope for.
Still, with no team able to match the spending power of PSG and Monaco, the battle for the European places is somewhat of a lottery.
Relegation
Newly-promoted Guingamp are the undoubted favourites for the drop, the Brittany club have already lost star player Gilbert Imbula to Marseille and have not competed in the top flight since 2004.
Their local rivals Nantes will be among those hoping to survive the drop and with talented youngster Jordan Veretout – who featured in France’s Under-20 World Cup winning side – and Venezuelan striker Fernando Aristeguieta (eight goals in 18 appearances in Ligue 2), in their side, they have the quality to a make a decent fist of life in the top flight.
Turning attention away from the newly-promoted clubs, Reims are being widely tipped to suffer the fall back into the second tier, although after bringing in striker Gaetan Charbonnier from Montpellier, Hubert Fournier will hope that they have the firepower and the defensive strength – Reims conceded 42 goals last season, less than the likes of Nice and Montpellier – will enable them to stay in the division.
Sochaux, who have narrowly avoided relegation in the last two seasons, are likely to be under threat again, and with Evian having lost goalscoring duo Khelifa and Yannick Sagbo, the battle to avoid the drop promises to be a tight one.
