Michel Platini: «Saint-Etienne, c’est là où j’ai appris à toujours gagner» | OneFootball

According to Le Progres, Canal+ is presenting a six-part documentary on Michel Platini, and while his Saint-Etienne years get only a short airing, they were formative. Standing on the Geoffroy-Guichard turf, he calls it 'where I learned to always win'.

Platini joined from Nancy on one June 1979 for about two million francs, as the club chased the European crown that had slipped away in 1976 at Hampden Park.

Across 145 matches, all as a starter, he scored 82 goals, only four from penalties. Several free-kicks were unforgettable, including one against PSV Eindhoven in November 1979 during the 6-0 rout.

In Europe, the first two campaigns ended at the quarter-finals, with heavy defeats by Borussia Mönchengladbach then Ipswich, despite a 5-0 away demolition of Hamburg in the 1980-81 last 16. The third season brought a preliminary-round exit to Dynamo Berlin at Geoffroy-Guichard.

Domestically, Saint-Etienne finished third in year one, behind Sochaux on goal difference and champions Nantes. The title arrived the following season on two June 1981, when Bordeaux were beaten and Platini struck twice before half-time. Bernard Lacombe pulled one back late on, but the club sealed a 10th, and to date last, D1 crown, the only league title of Platini’s career, and he ended as the season’s third top scorer.

He left for Juventus in 1982, then won the Ballon d’Or in 1983, 1984 and 1985. Only Lionel Messi has since bettered that streak, with four in a row and eight in total.

Source: Le Progres

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