One of the more exciting days of the European club football season is the day the Champions League group stage is drawn.

The 32 teams that have qualified for the group stage are drawn into eight, four-team groups.  Before that happens, all teams are broken into four pots, labeled A through D, where they are grouped according to a team’s strength (as determined by a formula called a coefficient).  Each of the eight groups can have no more than one team from each pot, no more than one team from a country.  The eight groups end up pretty even.

The draw is fun because you end up with a series of matches which, in addition to being high profile based on the quality of the teams involved, are rare.  In the days before the draw, you start considering the possibilities and potential story lines:  Chelsea and Fiorentina in a group, forcing Adrian Mutu to play the club he owes £14 million; Marseille being slotted with Arsenal months after having sold them Samir Nasri, and potentially getting Bayern Munich in the group, so they would have to face Franck Ribery; Barcelona being slotted with a Zenit St. Petersburg team whose star, Andrei Arshavin, so badly wanted to play at Camp Nou; FC Porto being grouped with Inter Milan and facing Jose Mourinho.

Here’s how the eight groups ended up being drawn, with the clubs listed in order of the group they were drawn from:  A to D.  Continue Reading »

The third week picks for Ligue 1 was the first set of predictions that showed some promise. The draws amongst the lower-table clubs were the bulk of my errors, but with correct predictions in half the week’s matches, it was a successful week. With the schedule for Week 4 being a little less contentious, a small winning streak may be on the horizon.

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Now everything makes sense. It took us three weeks, but that Ligue 1 I grew to love last year is back. The top three in the table are Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux. I exhale in relief.

Okay, so maybe I wasn’t too concerned about the state of Ligue 1 without the typically successful clubs at the top. In fact, I wasn’t phased at all, but I am eager for the start of what looks to be a three team championship race. There yet isn’t sufficient distance between Bordeaux (third, as of now) and the rest of the table, but with the three at the top looking at another relatively easy week this weekend, that distance may be coming.

As for the pretenders from last week, Grenoble never threatened Lyon, losing 2-0 after going down six minutes into the match, and Monaco’s lacking attack could not get three points at him from Caen. This week, Grenoble and Monaco face each other, meaning at last one will have trouble keeping up, while two other teams on the heals of the top three (Nice and Valenciennes) are also matched-up. This might be the week that gap starts to form.

But for all this talk about how the top of the table is shaping up, the match of the week involved two teams who currently rank no higher than tenth. Rennes put in two injury time goes to take three points over Lille, the first win for either club, in one of those matches that leaves a neutral slack jawed. Did that just happen?

With Week 2 done and gone, French clubs shifted focus to the continent, where Marseille finished qualifying for Champions League only to see them slotting into the group that got Atletico Madrid from Pot 4. That meant they would be in the deepest group, joined by Liverpool and PSV Eindhoven, in a quartet that gives them a chance to move on. Lyon and Bordeaux each get tougher groups, and some think Lyon’s to be as deep as Marseille’s.

In UEFA Cup qualifying, Rennes was able to overcome a one goal deficit after their first leg against Norway’s Stabaek. The join Paris St. Germain, Nancy, and St. Etienne in awaiting tomorrow’s UEFA Cup draw for the first round. With none of those four playing that well at the season’s start, they will be hoping to avoid some of the draw’s giants: AC Milan, Schalke 04, Benfica, Valencia, Galatasaray, and Manchester City.

Just kidding about City.

Karim Benzema has already risen to the top of the league in goals, the only player to reach three. Without being the best player in any individual week, he has been the league’s overall best player thus far and continue to raise his international profile. With a goal in France’s friendly last week against Sweden, Benzema already has four total goals this season. This week at St. Etienne, he will have his work cut out, though Les Verts have been allowing a goal a match through three.

And in Ligue 1, the sack race is over. Nantes fired Michel der Zakarian earlier this week after the promoted club found themselves at the bottom of the table after three games. Given the timing, Nantes seems to have had to beat Bordeaux, at Bordeaux, last weekend to keep his job. Clearly, getting the club promoted last season was not enough, and I wish whoever replaces him the best of luck. Your goal, apparently, is not staying up. It’s catching Marseille.

WFP Ligue 1 Club Rankings

	Rank	Last Week	Club
	1	1	Marseille A workmanlike win on the road at Le Havre saw them held under four goals for the first time this season. The team has played two Champions Legaue qualifiers during this opening stretch and will be happy to get Sochaux this week and then the international break. Their reward: a tough but winnable Champions League group.
	2	2	Lyon Popped the Grenoble bobble and assumed their place atop the league. They might also want to Marseille return to “form” a bit, as right now it looks like Claude Puel will have a fight in Le Championnat. That fight has been compounded by a tough Champions League group, getting Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, and Fiorentina.
	3	3	Bordeaux Got back to their winning ways this week following a shock loss the week before to PSG. They got, for them, a horrible Champions League draw, a solid third best team behind Chelsea and AS Roma. Good luck with that, Laurent Blanc.
	4	9	Valenciennes This is will be a team that I’m biased towards all year on the back of a preseason prediction, but a strong home result versus Lorient this weekend justifies my faith. For now.
	5	6	Le Mans There were a series of clubs I was down on coming into the season, and Le Mans was one, but their last two weeks - particularly this week’s win over St. Etienne - has opened my eyes. They have no truly bad results on their resume and have won two in a row. They’ve been strong
	6	4	Caen Another club I was unsure about at season’s start. I’m not as high on them as I am Le Mans, and their ranking here reflects a general uncertainty with those below them.
	7	12	Monaco Have drawn two in a row after beating PSG to open the season. They have only three goals in three matches and lack dynamism in their attack.
	8	7	Paris St. Germain A lot of this ranking is based on their win two weeks ago over Bordeaux, the only loss any of the top three have been given. Their result against Sochaux was disappointing, but when penalty kicks are involved, I give extra consideration.
	9	5	Lorient Only Nancy has scored fewer goals than Lorient, but with a win at Le Mans and a draw versus Lyon, they could be ranked higher. Once they find some goals, I’ll move them up.
	10	13	St. Etienne I can’t shake the feeling that this team should be better. They should be scoring more goals, but they were shut out in each of their road appearances: at Valenviennes, at Le Mans. According to these rankings, that’s a bit of a tough schedule, and having taken care of business in their one home fixture, they get ranked in the middle of the table.
	11	8	Grenoble Lyon made it clear they had no business at the top of the table, but it was good while it lasted. They still have a ways to go to be back in a relegation battle, but for a team that was barely promoted, it’s a smashing start.
	12	10	Rennes This team hass been all over the place. They got that miracle draw in Week 1 against Marseille - the only points the leaders have failed to get - and then lost to Grenoble. They beat Lille this weak, but as they have been in the UEFA Cup, their Ligue 1 performances have been all over the place.
	13	11	Toulouse A 0-0 draw at Nancy could prove a strong result come April and May, and for a team that will struggle to stay up, it’s a great point.
	14	14	Le Havre Good on them to hold Marseille to one goal, the first time this year a team has contained them. The team also drew over 16,000 tot he match, a fine turnout.
	15	17	Nice This is the team with the greatest disparity between actual table ranking and WSP rankings. They have two wins, but they are against Nancy and Auxerre. They have allowed Nancy’s only goal. As of now, I don’t see it.
	16	19	Lille A tough loss to Rennes this week as Stade came back with two goals very late, doing their best Liverpool impressive, to take all the points. They are ranked a couple of spots higher here than they sit in the table, but I feel like I might be being generous.
	17	15	Auxerre Auxerre gets ranked behind two teams who have not won a match because their win was two weeks ago and they have looked terrible since. Playing Marseill and Nice might have something to do with that, but with their only win coming against Nantes, there is not telling. They have given up the most goals in the league.
	18	20	Sochaux Got a draw agaist Paris St.-Germain after a very disppointing start to the season, but their only goal came from the penalty spot. Had they not gotten that call, they would be without a point for the season. They did show some life on Saturday, though, and Michel Flaubert was mad to work for PSG’s point. If they can carry that over into next week and find another goal scorer besides Mevlut Erding, they can still turn this around.
	19	18	Nancy One goal in three matches and their best results being draws against Toulouse and Lille gives them nothing attractive for their resume. Until they can show an ability to score goals, it is hard to take them seriously. Replicating last year’s surprise result is a long way away.
	20	16	Nantes Amongst the teams at the bottom the table, they have done the least to recommend themselves. Part of that is uninspired play. Part of that is the schedule. No matter. Three games was too few to just their coach, and it serves them right that Alain Perrin has no interest in this ship.

FC Nantes finished last season second behind Le Havre in France’s Ligue 2 but seem to have lofty expectations for return engagement in Ligue 1. At least, their owner does. That’s the best explanation as to why coach Michel Der Zakarian was fired today, only three matches into the season. Though they are not being used, there are a couple of better reasons why Der Zakarian could have been fired.

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Raymond Domenech’s honeymoon period after being affirmed as manager of the France national team is over with a thud. One day after a 3-2 win over Sweden in which Les Blues finally started incorporating some of their younger talent, one of the players that should be a cornerstone of their next World Cup has quit over selection issues.

Whether Sebastien Frey should as upset about Steve Mandanda starting the Sweden match is questionable, but he is not the first French star to be done with the national team over Domenech. The goalkeeper that was so important to Fiorentina’s Serie A and UEFA Cup runs was not even selected, with Domenech electing to pick Lyon younger Hugo Lloris as Mandanda’s back-up. Frey, who had a strong claim to playing time over Gregory Coupet in Euro 2008, is now done with Domenech and France, telling the team that he will be devoting himself to Fiorentina full time.

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Last week, I combined the Ligue 1 review article with the picks, but with me having time in my post-vacation world to break the rounds’ review into its own article, we can leave the picks to themselves. Below, you will see last week’s predictions along with my choices for Round 3. If the picks for Ligue 1’s third round are no better than those for the second, this article has already been a waste of your time.

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From the moment you say Marseille’s lineup for their Saturday match with Auxerre, you knew striker Djibril Cisse’s time with OM was up.  The camera focused on him sitting on the bench before kickoff.  A professional but disappointed look was on his face.  Either Cisse was already gone to another club or he would step-up his demands to leave.  With Erik Gerets making it clear that Mamadou Niang and Bakari Koné was his lead striking tandem, Cisse had lost his starting spot.

It turns out nothing was confirmed before the Auxerre match.  Pape Diouf, on Marseille’s web site, said that Cisse expressed his disappointment after the Auxerre match.  At that point Diouf, who had tried all summer to keep the wantaway striker around, could not hold on.  Cisse’s loan arrangement with Sunderland was in place three days later.

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Marseille striker Mamadou Niang at halftime of Marseille’s route of Auxerre. Niang scored the half’s only goal, his second of the season, which ties him for the early league lead.

Ligue Standings Rank Club GP PTS DIFF 1 Grenoble 2 6 2 2 Marseille 2 4 4 3 Lyon 2 4 3 4 Monaco 2 4 1 5 Lorient 2 4 1 6 Caen 2 3 1 7 Le Mans 2 3 1 8 Bordeaux 2 3 0 9 Le Havre 2 3 0 10 Nice 2 3 0 11 St. Etienne 2 3 0 12 PSG 2 3 0 13 Valenciennes 2 3 -1 14 Toulouse 2 3 -2 15 Auxerre 2 3 -3 16 Rennes 2 1 -1 17 Nantes 2 1 -1 18 Nancy 2 1 -1 19 Lille 2 1 -2 20 Socheaux 2 0 -2 Results August 16, 2008 Caen 3 1 Valenciennes Lille 1 3 Le Mans Nantes 1 1 Monaco Nice 2 1 Nancy St. Etienne 2 1 Sochaux Toulouse 2 1 La Havre PSG 1 0 Bordeaux August 17, 2008 Grenoble 1 0 Rennes Lorient 0 0 Lyon Marseille 4 0 Auxerre Next Week Home Away August 23, 2008 Nancy Toulouse La Havre Marseille Le Mans St. Etienne Monaco Caen Sochaux PSG Valenciennes Lorient Lyon Grenoble August 24, 2008 Rennes Lille Auxerre Nice Bordeaux Nantes

After two weeks, Grenoble is the story of Ligue 1, defying expectations that they’d be relegated by surging to the top of the table, Le Championnat’s only perfect team.

With their 1-0 victory on Sunday over Rennes, last year’s third place finisher in Ligue 2 has won their first two matches, building on last week’s 2-1 upset at Sochaux. As was the case the week before, Grenoble was outplayed by their opponent, but having jumped out early thanks to a 21st minute goal from Nassim Akrour, they were able to hold on, despite being outshot 18-8 and allowing 16 corner kicks to the one they earned.

While it is a good start, you will find few who are jumping on the Grenoble bandwagon, a ride that should come to a screeching halt this week when they visit a Lyon side that was surprisingly held by Lorient. The scoreless match at the Stade du Moustoir saw few opportunities for either side, Lorient able to limit the champions’ good chances to a couple of set piece blasts from Juninho. Karim Benzema was unable to build upon his two goal opening night performance.

The one side that was able to build on the first round was Marseille, who put up a 4-0 victory over a beleaguered Auxerre team who looked much more a side destined to battle relegation than the one who beat Le Havre on the opening weekend. Marseille is now up to eight goals on the young season, doubling their season total with last year’s leading scorer Djibril Cisse on the bench. The striking tandem of Mamadou Niang and Bakari Koné were magical, with Niang dominating the middle of the pitch as the 5′2″ Koné ran through and around the defense. Including Marseille’s 1-0 victory over Norweigan champions Brann in the first leg of their Champions League qualifying tie, Marseille has done put up two clean sheets in a row following a first week tie in which they allowed four goals to Rennes. They may not be at the top of the table, but through two weeks Marseille has looked Ligue 1’s most dangerous, if not best, side.

The Cisse situation is interesting for a team that, having put eight goals on the board, has no current need for him and,  with Hatem Ben Afra likely become a greater threat after he further settles in (which, as yet, he has not done), Cisse will at best be in a job sharing arrangement, at worst out of a job.  In watching Marseille’s attack against Auxerre, you saw no sign that he was missing.  Niang and Koné worked perfectly together, providing an insde-outside duo whose effectiveness was evident on the club’s first goal.  Koné used his speed and strength to beat his defender to a ball that was going for a goal kick.  He quickly turned on the save ball, put a cross through the goal mouth to the streaking Niang, whose header put Marseille up one.

Two of the more storied sides in the league, Paris St. Germain and St. Etienne, got their first victories of the season.  After disappointing in their opening match against Monaco, PSG pulled the upset of the week in defeating title contender Bordeaux, who have controlled their each of their first two matches without putting up impressive results.  Fernando Cavenaghi and newcomer Yoann Gourcuff made themselves dangerous but could not find the net beyond PSG goaltender Mikael Landreau.  PSG’s only goal was scored by last year’s leading scorer in Ligue 2, Guillame Hoarau, who scored his first league goal after moving to PSG from Le Havre this summer.

St. Etienne kept next week’s PSG opponent, Sochaux, without a point - the table’s only team with that ignominious distinction.  The 2-1 win came on the back of goals in the 11th and 18th minutes, the second a penalty kick.

In Round 3, the Lyon-Grenoble match-up will take center stage, with Le Championnat followers eager to see if the newcomers can extend their streak to three.  Lyon, the only team in the league yet to allow a goal, will see many of its players in international duty Wednesday when France takes on Sweden.  It’s unlikely to matter, as Lyon will use this weekend to try an rediscover a cutting edge that eluded them against Lorient last weekend.

With no other marquee match-ups and fifteen of the table’s teams with at least three points (and only one with a maximum of six), Round 3 will be another table-forming week.  With last season’s top three clubs (Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseille) all facing promoted sides, this could be the week where some of the favored clubs start rising to the top of the table.

World Football Postulant Ligue 1 Rankings

Ranking these teams this early in the season seems a bit silly, and while I want to base them purely on the first two weeks’ results, there is only so far I am willing to drop Bordeaux this early in the season. In an exercise that will give us a point of reference for our laughs later in the season, here’s how I rank Ligue 1 after two rounds:

1. Marseille
2. Lyon
3. Bordeaux
4. Caen
5. Lorient
6. Le Mans
7. Paris St. Germain
8. Grenoble
9. Valenciennes
10. Rennes
11. Toulouse
12. Monaco
13. St. Etienne
14. Le Havre
15. Auxerre
16. Nantes
17. Nice
18. Nancy
19. Lille
20. Socheaux

Next week I plan to separate the match reviews and the picks. This week, getting the English Premiership previews done took priority. Right now, I’m in catch-up mode.

The first round of Le Championnat saw Lyon assert control of the table, putting up a 3-0 victory over Toulouse while Bordeaux cleared Caen 2-1. Bordeaux deserved better, controlling possession and dealing with a Caen side that was doing whatever it could to keep it close, but that is the type of treatment Lyon has dealt with with ease over the last six seasons. Toulouse did not have Caen’s fight, but Lyon still took care of business. Karim Benzema posted a brace, showing some nice skill on the first, and Lyon is ahead early in Le Championnat.

For Lyon, it was business as usual. Toulouse had moments early where they looked game, but Lyon was clearly the better side and looked every bit the club that should be expected to win another Championnat. It was a measured, controlled performance that gave Toulouse almost no scoring opportunities. When Benzema doubled the Lyon lead garnered in the 12th minutes by Jean Makoun, what little fight was left in Toulouse waned and the match was over. It was a championship start for the Ligue’s marquee club.

Elsewhere, Marseille was given a match-up that would have allowed them to keep up with Lyon and Bordeaux save they ended-up leaving points on the pitch at Rennes. Up 3-1 with in the fiftieth minute, Marseille managed to end the game 4-4. They were up 3-2 with two minutes left when an own goal tied the match. Eliot Grandin put Marseille back up in stoppage time only to see Rennes salvage a point with a Bruno Creynou goal after the final whistle. All of Hatem Ben Arfa, Mamadou Niang and Bakari Koné scored for Marseille. If there’s a silver lining, it’s the hint that Marseille projects as an offensive juggernaut.

Promoted Le Havre and Grenoble each got wins, the latter on the road at a Sochaux team that gave up goals in the 87th and 89nd minutes to give away the match. It was a great win for the last Ligue 1 qualifier. The other promoted team, Nantes, had the better of play against Auxerre but still finished on the wrong end of a 2-1 road result. It was a strong result for a Auxerre team that failed to show they’ll be able to avoid a battle to stay up. For the three promoted teams, it was a promising start.

Valenciennes held serve 1-0 at home against St. Etienne and Lorient got a strong result at a Le Mans team which should struggle this season, but a small surprise saw PSG show last year’s form in their debut at Monaco. Monaco got three points thanks to a 1-0 result in which PSG showed no attacking aptitude.

In the league’s other match, Lille and Nancy played to a scoreless draw.

Picks Review: August 9-10

As I do these picks throughout the year, I will be giving myself three points whenever I pick a match correctly and one point if the match ends a tie (where I did not otherwise pick a draw). Here’s how I did with my first set of picks:

Overall: 4 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses
Best picks: Le Havre over Nice, Lyon over Toulouse
Worst picks: PSG over Monaco, Sochaux over Grenoble

Round 2 Picks

Round 2 of Le Championnat kicks off a weekend with a series of interesting yet mundane match-ups. Such is the nature of early season league football. There are no key match-ups. The league favorites will spend the weekend positioning themselves while the rest of the clubs continue to discover what they have.

The only match that contents two winners from last week is Lyon at Lorient.  Lyon, at this point, can not be picked against until they show some flaws.  It will be up to Bordeaux and Marseille to keep pace.  This weekend, they will do so at the expense of potential relegation battlers Paris St. Germain and Auxerre.

That will make it two losses in two matches for PSG.  They will be at the bottom of the table with Socheux and Toulouse.  Toulouse showed not life against Lyon, and I expect them to get a bit of a surprised when a motivated Le Havre team comes in looking to make it two wins in two Ligue 1 matches.

At the other end of the table, these picks have Lyon, Bordeaux, and Le Havre (yes, Le Havre) as the only perfect teams after two weeks.

For me,t he most interesting match is Valencinnes visiting Caen.  Valenciennes was my pick to be the table’s surprise climber this year, and they scored a strong Round 1 victory over St. Etienne at home.  But their 1-0 win belies the fact that St. Etienne were  the more dangerous side.  One the road against a Caen team I expect to struggle gives Valenciennes an early season litmus test.  If Valenciennes can pull out a win, it will be a sign that they could push for the league’s last UEFA Cup spot.

Although Lyon and Bordeaux are each given relatively easy matches at home to start the season, there are a number of interesting match-ups to start the season.

Monaco hosting PSG builds upon an idea mentioned in my season predictions: Monaco can be this season’s PSG, battling relegation until the end. I like PSG to get off to a good start in their campaign and get a victory on the road.

Another competitive match, this time between teams I project to be battling for Europe, sees Valenciennes host St. Etienne. Last year, this would have been a match the visitors could take three points from, but this year I like Valenciennes to get off to a good start and draw Les Verts.

The Sunday game should be a complete mismatch, with Lyon looking to get their season off to a triumphant start against a team that barely avoided relegation. Toulouse will take a beating, foreshadowing the struggles they will have all season. They will enter next weekend’s matches at the bottom of the table.

As the season goes on, I hope to make regular picks for each league and keep track of the results. For each correct pick, I’ll give myself three points. Anytime there’s a tie in which I picked a winner, I’ll give myself one point. Feel free to make your picks (or rip my picks to shreds) in the comments section, below.