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Note: to see my most recent map on football in France, click on the following, category: France.
The French Ligue 1 was formed in 1932. Currently, 1st place and 2nd place qualify for the Champions League; 3rd place gets a spot in the 3rd round qualifiers of the Champions League. There are 3 more spots allotted to France, for the UEFA Cup: 4th place, the winners of the Coupe de France, and the winners of the Coupe de la League (or 5th place and 6th place, if the 2 cup winners are in the top 4). France is currently ranked #4 in Europe, for UEFA competitions.
This map shows the 20 clubs in the 2007-08 Ligue 1 season. Listed are each club’s League Titles, and Coupe de France victories, as well as total (and consecutive) seasons in the first division. Also listed are each club’s full name, their stadium, and their current attendance figures.
Lyon has won the last 6 titles, but they face a strong challenge from Bordeaux this season. Bordeaux trails by 3 points, after 26 games. Nancy are the surprise team: they are in 3rd place, but shouldn’t be threat to Lyon…they will do well just to remain in contention for the UEFA Cup. This is also the case with Le Mans, in 4th: a shock, but no threat to win it. If Marseille hadn’t started the season so horribly, they might have been able to mount a challenge for the crown. They currently are in 5th, after spending the first third of the season at or near the relegation zone. They have been on fire since, but being 13 points below Lyon is just too much to make up in 12 games. Another Champions League spot should be in their grasp, though. Nice are in 6th; the small club from the south of France are yet another surprise in League Un this season.
As far as the relegation battle goes, the just-promoted Metz is definitely going right back down. There are some big names at or near the drop zone: Paris Saint-Germain, and Lens, as well as Toulouse, who finished 3rd last season. Lille and Rennes are also in touching distance of the drop: Lille, who have been in the Champions League 3 times (the last in 2006-07, when they made it past the group stage) will play Lyon at the 80,000-seat rugby stadium, Stade de France, on Saturday (see this).
The other two promoted clubs, Caen and Strasbourg, have fallen some, after strong starts, and both will probably be fighting the drop. Two months ago, the one club besides Metz that seemed destined for the drop was Auxerre, the club from a small town of 40,000, in Burgundy. But a 6-game unbeaten run, and 3 straight wins, have moved Auxerre up the table to 12th. But no club outside the top 5 is really safe. Amazingly, only 7 points separate 6th place from 17th place, so the permutations are endless.
**{Click here, for the Ligue 1 table.}
**{Click here for the Official Ligue 1 website, translated}.
**{Click here for Wikipedia’s entry on Ligue 1}.
Here is a site with a few maps of football clubs in France. It is a betting site, but it has a nice interactive map, and season-by-season categories {Click here}.
Thanks to http://www.colours-of-football.com/, for the kits.
