The French Ligue 1 yesterday kick started another 9 months of intense football action across the European scene. Saturday August 7th was d-day for all 20 teams in the league with the most surprising result being Olympique Marseille’s 2-1 home defeat to promoted side Caen.
The reigning champions were the biggest casualties of the night as their runners-up last season Olympique Lyon settled for a goalless draw with Monaco at the famous Stade Gerland.
The most notable victory of the night other then Caen’s went to Paris Saint Germain who were 3-1 winners over St.Etienne. The Parisians now lead the table after gaining all three points on offer in the first weekend of league action.
Meanwhile, AJ Auxerre and Lorient shared the spoils in an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Stade Abbe-Deschamps with new signing Anthony Le Tallec putting Auxerre ahead with a cracking debut goal.
Lille and Renne were two other teams that settled for a point after their game ended in a 1-1 draw. Sochaux and Toulouse were winners on the day after they beat Arles-Avignon and Brest 2-1 and 2-0 respectively. Both teams are new comers to the league and so their defeat should not come as a surpris.
Lens beat Nancy 2-1, while Nice and Valenciennes settled for a point after they both failed to score in regulation time. As things stand right now, PSG are in the lead with Toulouse, Caen and Nancy making up the rest of the top four spots.
I am really looking forward to the Champion’s League this season especially since Auxerre are expected to feature. Auxerre finished 3rd last season despite losing direction in their last 2 games and it seems as though they are continuing where they left off as their 2-2 draw with Loreint left them in 6th place in the league standings.
Another reason why i am desperate to see Auxerre play, is because Kenyan striker Dennis Oliech will have the rare opportunity to become the second Kenyan after Inter Milan’s McDonald Mariga to have played in Europe’s prestigious club tournament the UEFA Champions League.
By the look of things i can already foresee a very interesting season ahead.
Photo credit: from Yogi_OM
