Ligue 1 Review | Will a credible contender emerge? | OneFootball

Every year, before the start of the season, Ligue 1 is met with the same question: Will anyone be able to step up and challenge Paris Saint-Germain? The answer is usually an emphatic no. Since QSI took over the capital club in 2011, only three teams have managed to beat them to the title: Montpellier HSC (11/12), AS Monaco (16/17), and Lille OSC (20/21).

After five gameweeks, the season is still young, and the forecast remains uncertain. PSG sit level on points with Monaco, Olympique Lyonnais, and RC Strasbourg Alsace, although they could go three points clear with a victory over Olympique de Marseille in tonight’s rescheduled Le Classique.

No candidate has yet emerged as an outstanding, credible contender to the throne. And perhaps, like last season and the season before, no team will emerge to take up that mantle. However, what has become increasingly apparent across the first five games is that below Les Parisiens, there are a host of very good teams of a similar level of quality, all bunched together.

The flawed and talented; the flawed and talented

This has been a growing trend in Ligue 1 over the past few seasons, with UEFA Champions League races proving to be exceedingly tight. Last campaign ended with OGC Nice and Lille finishing only a point off Monaco in third, who were able to hold onto the final automatic qualifying berth for the Champions League league phase.

And everything points to this trend being followed in the current campaign, as each of the regular chasing pack have been unable to iron out their flaws over the summer. Monaco and Marseille remain impressive going forward but defensively fragile, with Les Monégasques yet to keep a clean sheet in any competition, while Marseille have so far only managed it against ten-man FC Lorient (as of writing).

Strasbourg have become part of the nouveau riche, becoming the league’s biggest spenders, but old wounds over their multi-club ownership model have come to the surface. Despite winning all but one of their Ligue 1 matches (a 3-2 loss to Monaco), the team feel as if they are still in first gear and have won every game by a one-goal margin.

Lyon, conversely, have become part of the nouveau pauvre, with their austerity drive leading to Georges Mikautadze, Rayan Cherki, and Lucas Perri’s departures. Paulo Fonseca has managed to make the team the joint hardest team (alongside PSG) to break down, with Les Gones having kept a clean sheet in all but one game (a 3-1 loss to Stade Rennais). However, they’ve lost a lot of their attacking impetus.

PSG’s injuries – a can’t miss opportunity?

There is a certain irony to this current season, as it feels like the one where PSG could be at their most vulnerable. Luis Enrique’s squad, at the time of writing, are the one remaining unbeaten team in the league, but there is a sense that faultlines are beginning to be exposed, brought about by last season’s incessant workload, even if performances remain stellar.

Already, Les Parisiens have picked up injuries of varying severity to Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué, João Neves, and Bradley Barcola. The squad is deep and flexible, but will be fighting on three fronts across the season. If there is any time to put pressure on PSG, it is now, but for the moment, we’ll have to wait and see if anyone is ready to step up to the challenge.

This week’s Ligue 1 subplots

GFFN | Nick Hartland