Much like the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 looks like a one team’s league. The difference in budgets in just huge and, quite frankly, who can compete with a team which has Mbappe and Neymar ruining any defensive strategy, Verratti destroying any offensive maneuver, and a club that can just fish the best players in the league to play on their side? Lille, that’s who.
Right, Lille did it. The dogues managed to end PSG’s streak, with Jonathan David confirming with he already showed at his former club, and Renato Sanches proving he is, indeed, a golden boy. Yet, then we hear about how PSG plans to build their squad and, while this article is not totally irrelevant, in this case I can say you can get best soccer predictions using live trends at Overlyzer.
For this reason, I’m building up the article in a different kind of way: you see, I don’ believe anyone will match PSG next season; but that’s no reason not to celebrate the best teams on Ligue 1, and some surprising underdogs who can make what is became known as a “Leicester”. Let’s check those out.
Paris Saint Germain
Money and talent is pumped in every year, and even Pochettino is now in on it. Keeping an eye on Haaland, Ronaldo, Kamavinga and pretty much everyone that shows the kind of talent that can lead them to be Champions League’s winners, Paris Saint Germain is so ahead of the rest of the competition that it’s hard to see them not succeeding again. But hey, stranger things have happened.
Lille OSC
I mean, the Champions need to make the list, right? Now, here’s the catch: Lille is a team that needs, urgently, to stabilize their finances, and that will mean selling players, like Renato, Jonathan, or Soumaré. And it will be quite hard to find players that are cheaper and can still play on the same level of any of these three. Plus, they just lost their coach. You see, I’m not really an adept of non-competitive leagues, but I just can’t see them profit from their best talents and keep the level that led them to the championship. But hey, one can dream.
Marseille FC
Marseille has been a train wreck, with disasters pilling up like water drops in England. André Villas Boas resigned because of confrontations with the direction about transfers’ ideology, Thauvin, a couple years back, told they just didn’t have enough to make it neither in France or in Europe, and despite all the talent, it always seems they are one step behind of not only PSG, but in the last year, also Monaco and Lille. Meanwhile, a small analysis of their squad seems to indicate that there’s plenty of talent hidden there, and one is left to wonder if stars can finally align for Marseille.
Lyon FC
Lyon is team absolutely stacked with talent: Aouar, Bruno Guimarães, Anthony Lopes, Joachim Andersen, Paquetá, and plenty of others, it seems that all they need is to click, and find a manager that is able to put all these individual talents into good use for the team’s cohesion. Sure, Depay is leaving, and that is a big blow, but the team he leaves still holds plenty of quality to topple most of Ligue 1’s teams and maybe, just maybe, surprise Paris Saint Germain.
