NEWSLETTER Week 7 LIGUE 1 Week 6 review: Paris pass OL test, Falcao fires Paris Saint-Germain maintained their three-point lead a top the standings with victory over an unlucky OL thanks to two own-goals while Radamel Falcao kept Monaco in touch with a star turn against Strasbourg. Paris Saint-Germain may have claimed an eighth-straight win in all competitions on Sunday - on the back of a 5-0 thrashing of Celtic at Celtic Park in the Champions League on Tuesday - to stay three points clear atop the standings, but it was no walk in the Parc des Princes for Unai Emery's men. Faced with an Olympique Lyonnais side who managed to shut down much of their attacking verve in the first half, and after seeing Edinson Cavani's penalty turned onto the cross-bar by Anthony Lopes, the capital club made the break late as Cavani and then Kylian Mbappé forced own-goals. "It was a very difficult match, but we need to get used to tough matches like this. Olympique Lyonnais are a very good side and they caused us problems last season in this fixture," said Emery, who saw tensions rise between two of his stars when Neymar Jr looked to move regular penalty taker Cavani off the ball before the Uruguayan's spot-kick was repelled. "Overall, I think we deserved to win, even if we did it tough. We could have scored more, but so could they. I'm happy with the result." For Lyon, it was a first defeat of the campaign but coach Bruno Genesio saw plenty to be happy with despite his side's slipping to fifth: "We needed a bit more aggression, but given all the efforts the players made, we can't fault them for lacking a bit of lucidity. We had a plan to put them off their game, and it worked, but against this kind of team you have to play the perfect match, and unfortunately we had two lapses in concentration." Meanwhile champions AS Monaco were out to bounce back at home to promoted Strasbourg after their 4-0 hammering in Nice last week, and captain Radamel Falcao led from the front with an assist for Ronny Lopes' opener before adding two of his own to go clear atop the scorers chart on nine goals, two clear of nearest rival Edinson Cavani. "Everything went well. We controlled the game," explained coach Leonardo Jardim, whose side drew 1-1 away to RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday. "Of our 12 most-used players last season, six left in the summer. It's the truth, not an opinion. But we have the same idea of how to play, our attitude, a philosophy. We work so that the players understand our objectives. It's good for the club and the players." Saint-Etienne took advantage of Lyon's zero-point haul to leapfrog their Rhône derby rivals into third with a 1-0 win in Dijon, Jonathan Bamba's spot-kick getting Oscar Garcia's men a first win in three Ligue 1 Conforama matches. "With 13 points from 18, with a new coach and the arrival of a number of new players, I'm happy in terms of the points we have because we have played three times away from home and faced Paris and Nice," said Spaniard Garcia, who replaced long-time boss Christophe Galtier in the summer. "We have to be competitive and I'm sure that we're going to improve slowly. It's not easy to change a lot of things in a short space of time." Bordeaux's 1-0 Garonne derby win in Toulouse - which came courtesy of yet another screamer from rising Brazilian star Malcom - saw Les Girondins climb to fourth while Olympique de Marseille followed on from their 1-0 Europa League win over Konyaspor with a Clinton Njie-powered 2-0 win in Amiens. SM Caen's three-match win streak came to a halt as Nantes' Brazilian midfielder Andrei Girotto's stunning low drive clinched a 1-0 win for Claudio Ranieri's Canaris - now in seventh place on a four-match unbeaten run - while EA Guingamp inflicted the same scoreline on Marcelo Bielsa's LOSC, winless since Week 1, at the Stade du Roudourou. OGC Nice, who powered on from their win over Monaco by hammering Zulte Waregem 5-1 in Belgium in the Europa League on Thursday, had 09/22/2017 Ligue de Football Professionnel - 2017/2018 - Ligue1.com 1
superstar Mario Balotelli's uber-powerful near-post finish - his fourth in three matches - to thank for a 1-0 win in Rennes that saw Lucien Favre's Aiglons climb three places to eighth. Unbeaten going into their clash with bottom side FC Metz, Angers copped perhaps the upset of the round as Les Grenats' Nolan Roux got just his second goal for his new club to secure a precious 1-0 win at Angers' Stade Raymond Kopa. Montpellier won with the same scoreline away to promoted Troyes, Pedro Mendes' clinical header sneaking in at the far post a third of the way through the match. Week 6 reactions - Emery: 'We deserved to win' Paris Saint-Germain boss Unai Emery hailed his side's mettle after the hard-fought 2-0 win over Olympique Lyonnais, whose coach Bruno Genesio took encouragement from his players' spirited performance at the Parc des Princes. Sunday, September 17, 2017 Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Olympique Lyonnais Unai Emery (Paris Saint-Germain coach) "We are very happy with the win and to pick up another three points in front of our fans. It was a very difficult match, but we need to get used to tough matches like this. Olympique Lyonnais are a very good side and they caused us problems last season in this fixture. Overall, I think we deserved to win, even if we did it tough. We could have scored more, but so could they. I'm happy with the result." Bruno Genesio (Olympique Lyonnais coach): "We had chances, with a shot on the line and a save on the line. We needed a bit more aggression, but given all the efforts the players made, we can't fault them for lacking a bit of lucidity. You mustn't forget that we played on Thursday [in the Europa League] and didn't get home until very late. I'm proud of what my players showed tonight, even if the important thing in football is points and we're disappointed to get none tonight. But if we can play like this again, there is cause for optimism. We had a plan to put them off their game, and it worked, but against this kind of team you have to play the perfect match, and unfortunately we had two lapses in concentration." Amiens SC 0-2 Olympique de Marseille Christophe Pélissier (Amiens coach): "We competed well in the first half, but we soon realised the difference between ourselves and a team like Marseille. We didn't expect OM to play a brilliant match but they were solid. If we'd opened the scoring perhaps it would have been a different game. I was disappointed. I thought we could have done better." Rudi Garcia (Marseille coach): "I think at half-time a draw was a fair score but by full-time we deserved the win. We matched Amiens athletically and that's why we won the game. Our team is built for that. We found solutions in the second half. Our defensive organisation allowed us to win. In difficult games you have to go back to basics with players who work hard for each other." Angers SCO 0-1 FC Metz Stéphane Moulin (Angers coach): "I'm disappointed with the result. We tried everything in the end, with two strikers on the pitch, but we were too messy, technically poor. We were second best physically most of the time. It was logical that Metz won. We will analyse what was different between this week and last [Angers drew 1-1 at AS Saint-Etienne last Sunday]. I can't explain it right now. There were no warning signs." Philippe Hinschberger (Metz coach): "We feel we were finally rewarded. It's never easy to come to Angers. We saw in the second half, and especially towards the end of the game, that we had to dig deep. I would have preferred to have scored two or three goals. This was a match of warriors, fighters, but with technical quality. Both teams had their good moments. I repeat: a second goal would have been good. They could easily have equalised." Stade Rennais FC 0-1 OGC Nice Christian Gourcuff (Rennes coach): "It's a cruel scenario. We weren't able to find our rhythm in in the first half. We raised our game in the second half 09/22/2017 Ligue de Football Professionnel - 2017/2018 - Ligue1.com 2
but it was hard to tighten our grip on the match. This was also due to a lack of maturity. [Mario] Balotelli doesn't need 36 chances on goal." Lucien Favre (Nice coach): "I don't know if we 'snatched' the win but it could have been a draw. It was clear we had two big chances in the first half and faded in the second. But you can watch every team in Europe and those that played on Thursday will have found it more difficult [Nice beat Zulte-Waregem 5-1 in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday]. I think we played a good game given the circumstances. Balotelli's goal was beautiful. It's been a beautiful week with three wins: at home to Monaco, in the Europa League and away in the league against a good team." Saturday, September 16, 2017 AS Monaco 3-0 RC Strasbourg Leonardo Jardim (Monaco coach): "When you work and when you win, it's good. Everything went well. We controlled the game. In the first half, we messed up a lot of final balls. In the second, it was better. Of our 12 most-used players last season, six have been changed. It's the truth, not an opinion. But we have the same idea of how to play, our attitude, a philosophy. We work so that the players understand our objectives. It's good for the club and the players." Thierry Laurey (Strasbourg coach): "One team is made to be clinical and have a certain control, and the other which tries to control without being able to. What worries me is to concede a goal just before half-time. It was a little lapse before half-time that cost us dear. I am happy we didn't crumble and we tried to keep in it. We shouldn't he ashamed of our performance, we played quite well, but we were paralysed by too many mistakes. There's a difference in rhythm with us. Lyon, Monaco, Paris or Marseille are much faster than us. That's that thing we struggle to understand. Last year, we could cover up our weaknesses. We can't do it any more in L1." Dijon FCO 0-1 AS Saint-Etienne Olivier Dall'Oglio (Dijon coach): "We're a bit annoyed. You have to take a step back because to not take any points from such a game is cruel. It was a good game, there were chances. We weren't far away from putting them away. I'm happy with what I saw in terms of determination and effort compared to what I saw at Caen last week." Oscar Garcia (Saint-Etienne coach): "I was worried from start to finish. We had to suffer, but that will always be the case for us. With 13 points from 18, with a new coach and the arrival of a number of new players, I'm happy in terms of the points we have because played three times away from home and faced Paris and Nice. We have to be competitive and I'm sure that we're going to improve slowly. It's not easy to change a lot of things in a short space of time. Everyone knows Stéphane Ruffier and what he can do. For me, he's the best goalkeeper I've had." EA Guingamp 1-0 LOSC Antoine Kombouaré (Guingamp coach): "We thought all week about how to pick holes in this defence with a team that was ready for a fight and goes man-to-man. We had to work to create space. It's difficult, because you have to be strong physically and mentally, because they're a team that never gives up. We needed a good Guingamp side to get this win. It's true that it was a happy ending for us. It's the kind of ending you like because it happened right at the last second. We had started to lose belief, because we had the feeling we had nothing left in the tank." Marcelo Bielsa (LOSC coach): "I'm not ignoring the fact that we should have produced more going forward, but we should have scored. We didn't manage to get our players in good situations to shoot at goal. That's what our team lacked, precision with the final pass. If the match had finished 0-0, I would have thought that by being a little more precise, we would have won it." FC Nantes 1-0 SM Caen Claudio Ranieri (Nantes coach): "I ask the fans to be patient. If you play well and then lose once or twice, then you lose and you play badly. So it's important to do what you have to do to win. I'm Italian. One-nil is a scoreline that suits me, even if I would have preferred 2-0. Everyone played well, those who came off and those who came on. Our second half was better because Caen lost their calm, we played higher up the pitch and used the ball better. It was important not to panic and wait for the right moment to score." 09/22/2017 Ligue de Football Professionnel - 2017/2018 - Ligue1.com 3
Patrice Garande (Caen coach): "In the first half, it was promising. We dominated the ball, but in the second half, we forgot to play. We even stopped playing. We defended too deep. There were a lot of mistakes and we were logically punished. We have to improve in that regard, but to do that, you need to have the technical mastery that allows you to do that." ESTAC Troyes 0-1 Montpellier Hérault SC Jean-Louis Garcia (Troyes coach): "We have to be more clinical and improve when it comes to our finishing. When you don't score, doubt starts to creep in. You have to have the humility to think that we can improve not only to match our rivals, but be capable of beating them." Michel Der Zakarian (Montpellier coach): "I had said to my players that if we didn't concede a goal, we could win the match. That's what we did. We had lost the last two, we absolutely wanted to stop that run. We did that with a lot of energy and our attitude. We were a little lucky in the first half with the chances they had, but the second, they couldn't get close to our goal, they only had a few shots from distance. We played very well on the counter-attack. Even the great teams have to work hard to win the ball back and that's what we did this evening." Friday, September 15, 2017 Toulouse FC 0-1 Girondins de Bordeaux Pascal Dupraz (Toulouse coach): "That kind of start to a match, out of 10 games you will have finished nine of them off by half-time. That is football. Sometimes it's cruel but we must acknowledge that Bordeaux had their moments too, and their goalkeeper was outstanding. TFC played the kind of football we like to see tonight and at half-time we should have been ahead by more than one goal. We came very close. Having seen Bordeaux this is the match in which they have suffered the most away from home and it's the one they win. We just didn't get the breaks tonight but we will at other times and that will allow us to pick up points. We need to continue along the same lines." Jocelyn Gourvennec (Bordeaux coach): "I am very satisfied at winning tonight. We knew it would be difficult and it was. Bordeaux have struggled here for several years so it was important to play well and be more clinical in front of goal. They had the better chances in the first half but we were better after the break, were much more dangerous and once we got in front it was harder for Toulouse. We are making progress because in the same type of match last year we were very quickly punished here and lost 4-1. We controlled the end of the game well and could have scored a second. Like all the great players in our championship, Malcom is somebody different, like Seri at Nice, Fekir at Lyon or Lemar at Monaco. These are players who can make the difference and it is good that Malcom's left foot is so hot. Our elimination from Europe is still in a corner of our minds but we are making progress in the league and it is good to have 12 points. It is going be an open league this season, apart from Paris who will be competing with themselves, and we want to be in the mix." 09/22/2017 Ligue de Football Professionnel - 2017/2018 - Ligue1.com 4
SPIRO: PSG must stand by Cavani Edinson Cavani has earned the right to be PSG's first-choice penalty-taker and deserves more respect, writes Ligue1.com's Matthew Spiro. A lot has been said this week about 'Le Clash', as L'Equipe called it, between Cavani and Neymar. Some reports claimed the two players had to be restrained from coming to blows in the dressing room after the 2-0 win over Lyon, others suggested only angry words were exchanged. Cavani, who supposedly stands to gain a million euros if he finishes the season again as PSG's top-scorer, insists the squabbling over who takes free-kicks and penalties is "nothing at all" and "the kind of thing that happens all the time". He is right of course. I witnessed similar scenes in my children's school playground just the other day. Elsewhere, in the wild world of social media, Diego Forlan insulted Dani Alves for allegedly taking sides with Neymar, while Mario Balotelli told Neymar he should just go and grab the ball and take the next penalty without even asking Cavani. Everybody seems to have a strong view. Everybody, that is, except Unai Emery, who is sitting on the fence. His assertion on Thursday that "Cavani and Neymar will both take penalties" has provided zero clarity and hints at a worrying lack of authority. Emery's refusal to take a stance is poor, and as far as I'm concerned shows a lack of support for Cavani. There is no fathomable reason for the Uruguayan to be relieved of spot-kick duties. He is the senior man, is established now as the team's centre forward and leading marksman, and has an excellent conversion rate, particularly when it comes to taking penalties in the big matches. Every football dressing room has a hierarchy. How that hierarchy is formed depends on many factors - but it's not just about the cost of the players. Cavani is five years Neymar's senior and has been at the Parc des Princes four years longer than the Brazilian. Furthermore, during his first three seasons - after joining for a then-ligue 1 record 64 million Euros - El Matador made major sacrifices, consenting to playing on the wing and allowing Zlatan Ibrahimovic to take charge of free-kicks and penalties. Not only did he agree to play out of position, he showed incredible commitment to the collective cause, constantly fighting feverishly to win the ball back and getting in to the box when he could. In 2012-13, even David Beckham, who had an even bigger global status than Ibrahimovic, was swatted aside by the Swede in the Englishman's final game as a professional when PSG won a free-kick within shooting range. Beckham was below Ibrahimovic in the hierarchy - and rightly so. And to, emphasise the point, 'Ibra' duly thrashed the ball into the back of the net. In his first season as Paris' centre forward, following Ibrahimovic's departure, Cavani scored 49 goals. Just let that figure sink in a moment. He has earned the right to be the club's main goal-getter, even with Neymar on board. If doubt is being cast on Cavani's status, it suggests to me one of two things: either the Brazilian players have too much influence, or Emery's hands are tied for political reasons. PSG did, after all, spend almost a quarter of a billion euros on Neymar and will not want to upset him. That might explain why Emery hasn't stood up for his lethal no9, in public at least. For long periods last season, PSG struggled and were carried by Cavani's goals. At 30, he is now at the peak of his considerable powers. Yes, he misses chances and his critics love to point that out, but let's be totally honest about this: Edinson Cavani is a defender's worst nightmare. His speed, power, athleticism and movement are an explosive cocktail that make him almost impossible to live with. The vast majority of chances he gets in a match come about because he has provoked them. He is also a fighter and his work ethic sets an example. During last Sunday's tough match against Lyon, Cavani remained in the heart of the battle. With the scores at 0-0, Lyon's Tanguy Ndombele hit the crossbar with a stunning long-range strike. Just as it looked like Memphis Depay might score from the follow up, Cavani accelerated back even quicker than Depay and the PSG defenders to head the ball behind. That moment was arguably more important than the penalty he missed after Neymar's untimely and unhelpful intervention. It goes without saying Neymar is a wonderful player. And we know he joined PSG because he wanted to step out of Lionel Messi's shadow and be 'the main man'. He is the main man in Paris, and he can continue to be that without taking the penalties and free-kicks away from Cavani. As a forward, to win the Ballon d'or you have to score a lot of goals. But you also have to show class and remember that you are playing a team sport. Neymar has made a fantastic start to life in Ligue 1. But he shouldn't lose sight of that last point. 09/22/2017 Ligue de Football Professionnel - 2017/2018 - Ligue1.com 5
COUPE DE LA LIGUE All set for the round of 32 Check out the full fixture list following the draw for the Coupe de la Ligue's round of 32, the stage of the competition where Ligue 1 Conforama's non-european sides enter the competition. Following the round of 32 draw on Canal+ programme Late Football Club on Wednesday night, Ligue 1 Conforama's 14 teams not involved in European competition this season found out whom they would be facing for their first hit-out in the competition this season. The matches will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday October 24 and 25, with the ten winners going into the draw for the round of 16 - the stage when AS Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique de Marseille and Girondins de Bordeaux enter the competition. The full draw: ESTAC Troyes - Amiens SC EA Guingamp - Montpellier Hérault SC Angers SCO - AS Nancy-Lorraine RC Strasbourg Alsace - AS Saint-Etienne Dijon FCO - Stade Rennais FC FC Lorient - SM Caen Red Star FC - FC Metz LOSC - Valenciennes FC Toulouse FC - Clermont Foot Tours FC - FC Nantes 09/22/2017 Ligue de Football Professionnel - 2017/2018 - Ligue1.com 6