Ligue 1

Ligue 1 is the top division in French Football and is the fifth ranked league in Europe, behind the English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga . Famous French teams that are currently playing in the division include; Lyon, Marseille, St Etienne, Paris Saint Germain and current leaders Bordeaux.

The top three finishers in Ligue 1 qualify for the Champions League with the third placed team entering in the final qualifying round. Teams finishing in fourth and fifth qualify for the Europa League competition.

Lyon won seven consecutive titles between 2001/02 season and 2007/08. Their superiority was finally overcome last season by Girondins de Bordeaux who won the title by three points from Marseille. Lyon’s previous dominance has been partly affected by a continual loss of key players to clubs in bigger leagues. The loss of Michael Essien to Chelsea and Karim Benzema to Real Madrid show that even the biggest French sides cannot compete in terms of wealth with the big guns in England or Spain.

This season looks like being a hard fought season with seven or eight teams competing for places in Europe. As regards the title race, Bordeaux currently lead Montpellier by three points and are heavy favourites to retain their title. With Lyon and Marseille just a few points further back few would discount them from a title challenge yet.

Bordeaux and Lyon have both reached the last 16 of the Champions League and have both played some excellent football on their way. This indicates that the the top league in France is in rude health and is capable of producing teams and players that are capable of thriving on the bigger stage. One criticism in the past of French teams playing in Europe is that they never managed to compete as well as clubs from so called lesser leagues  in European competition.

Bookmakers in the UK offer odds on all Ligue 1 games and on the final outcome of the Ligue 1 championship. Bordeaux are the current favourites for the title with odds of 4/9.

French Ligue 1 Betting Odds