Europe’s finest could not stop PSG. What chance do Ligue 1 clubs have? | Ligue 1

by Marcelo Moreira

If Europe’s elite could not contain Paris Saint-Germain last season, what chance is there for Ligue 1’s impoverished chasing pack? Before the season has even started, their rivals seem to have already submitted to this logic. Never have PSG felt more untouchable than they do now. Chelsea found the recipe for dismantling Luis Enrique’s machine but the rest of Europe floundered last season. Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Arsenal and Milan all fell by the wayside as PSG were crowned European champions.

That success came at a time when PSG had never looked more vulnerable under Qatar Sports Investments ownership. Despite their prodigious talents, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi were symptoms of the wider ills of the club’s management. But they ensured one thing: that PSG were unshakeable favourites in every domestic game for a decade.

When Mbappé, the last remnant of PSG’s self-proclaimed “bling-bling era”, left last summer, there was a feeling of fallibility. Perpetual PSG dominance still seemed likely but, unlike in previous years, there was no longer the certainty. Rivals could sense it. Marseille and Lyon in particular spent big, the latter vocal in their ambition to dethrone PSG, champions of France three years running.

The rest is history: a fourth Ligue 1 title, a Coupe de France, a Trophée des Champions, and most importantly, a first Champions League title followed. No wonder their rivals’ response this summer is one of submission. Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi speaks about competing with PSG “better”, rather than actually competing with them. Monaco’s chief executive, Thiago Scuro, says the club’s objective is to do one better than last season and pip Marseille to second.

PSG celebrate with the Champions League trophy. Photograph: Sadak Souici/EPA

Catching up with PSG would be difficult enough. Introduce the context of TV rights, a recurring issue that leaves clubs counting the pennies again this summer, and it becomes nigh-on impossible. Last summer, DAZN acquired the rights to broadcast Ligue 1 for the next five seasons for less than half of the LFP’s asking price. Worse still, they have backed out after just one season. The league’s governing body has now opted to launch its own channel, Ligue1+.

With that, the short-to-medium-term outlook is bleak for clubs. Nicolas de Tavernost, the CEO of LFP Media, has said the 2025-26 season will be “difficult in terms of domestic TV rights”. Clubs are all too aware of that and, in their meetings with the DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog, earlier this summer, they had to budget for zero euros of TV revenue.

It is hardly surprising that PSG’s rivals are pessimistic about their chances of closing down the reigning European champions on shoestring budgets. Clubs have adapted their transfer strategies and have been particularly attentive to the free-agent market. Paul Pogba’s move to Monaco is the most high-profile piece of business done by any Ligue 1 side; the club also signed Eric Dier on a free. Marseille have signed English duo Angel Gomes and CJ Egan-Riley for nothing; and Olivier Giroud joined Lille as a free agent following the termination of his deal at LAFC.

Naturally, such recruitment has impacted the age profile of squads competing at the top. All of last season’s top five – PSG, Marseille, Monaco, Nice and Lille – have seen the average age of their squads increase, with PSG now the youngest. Youth was the one competitive advantage that rivals had over PSG during the Galactics era, but it is one that they have since lost.

They are getting younger, too. Illia Zabarnyi, 22, has arrived from Bournemouth for £54.5m as the long-term replacement for 31-year-old Marquinhos, and 23-year-old Lucas Chevalier has arrived from Lille for £47.5m to unseat 26-year-old Gianluigi Donnarumma. Youth is a weapon, as PSG showed in Munich in May. But it isn’t their only weapon. Their expensively assembled juggernaut also has a core of players in their prime: Achraf Hakimi, Fabián Ruiz, Vitinha and Ousmane Dembélé, the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or.

They have more than enough to keep last year’s closest challengers, Marseille and Monaco, at arm’s length. Behind them, the gap has increased in a league that feels increasingly stratified. Nice have lost their player-of-the-season from last year Evann Guessand, as well as goalkeeper Marcin Bulka, and they have not invested heavily this window. Lille have been decimated by the departures of Chevalier, Jonathan David, Gomes and Bafodé Diakité.

Lyon’s well-documented financial issues have meant that budget options have replaced the likes of Rayan Cherki, Lucas Perri and Alexandre Lacazette, with Paulo Fonseca admitting that his squad “maybe isn’t better” than last season’s. Strasbourg have invested in some promising prospects once again but Liam Rosenior’s inexperienced side have lost their best players from last season, Andrey Santos and Djordje Petrovic, and they have to contend with European football this season, potentially limiting their ability to climb up the table.

The aforementioned clubs once again look the favourites to challenge for European football and so, heading into the new season, there is a feeling of inertia. That feeling is only heightened by the lack of change in the dugouts. In contrast to the managerial merry-go-round across the border in Italy, there have been just two changes in Ligue 1, with former Lyon manager Pierre Sage replacing Will Still at Lens, and Luís Castro coming in for Antoine Kombouaré at Nantes.

PSG and Paris FC are very close neighbours. Photograph: Robbert Frank Hagens/Alamy

The continuity in Ligue 1 is only disrupted by the addition of Paris FC. Only 44 metres separate their stadium from PSG’s, and while there is a gulf between the two sides on the pitch, that gap is expected to shrink in years to come. Backed by the Arnault family, who were fifth in Forbes’ list of the richest people in the world in 2025Paris FC also have the guiding hand of Red Bull and Jürgen Klopp to instigate a meteoric rise.

Unlike St Étienne, who have wealthy backers and made the jump to Ligue 1 last season, Paris FC’s recruitment this summer is more tailored towards survival. By signing exciting talented young players such as Zuriko Davitashvili and Lucas Stassin rather than adding experience, St Étienne put the cart before the horse. Paris FC have not made the same mistake. The forward Moses Simon brings a wealth of Ligue 1 experience, which should suffice in ensuring their safety this season.

Their long-term aim is to alter the landscape in the capital, and in France more generally. They have the financial means and the scope to do so. But the time to challenge PSG’s hegemony is far from nigh in a league in which time, it feels, is standing still.

This is an article by Get French Football News

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