What does the French Ligue 1 look like up to date? And why?
There are a few things certain in this world though: tax payments, death and the fact that PSG won’t win the Champions League. But that’s not all: there’s also the fact that PSG will be champions in France. Every few years, an exception disproves the rule and someone else gets the crown. But that’s a miracle that doesn’t last. PSG comes back in subsequent years and regains the title, usually by a landslide. That’s how it looks like it will be in 2023. They’re a substantial distance behind Marseille, and Olympique got knocked out in the direct match.
That’s because PSG has a good team and two geniuses – Messi and Mbappé. To win a major European trophy they would need to have history on their side. They don’t. History plays in Munich, Milano or Madrid.
The French championship has this peculiarity: it is, except at the top, very balanced. It produces hundreds of interesting footballers every year, the academies produce players by the bucketload. The junior centers are true centers of excellence. There are only thirty points between the last Champions League place and the first relegation spot.
Even teams that quickly drops out of the top flight, such as Angers, already relegated, still give one or two players who are destined to be stars at bigger clubs next season. Having Lyon in mid-table – that comes from Lyon’s weakness this season, but it also comes from the fact that despite the imbalance at the top, we have a very balanced league.
But I want to take you to another team now: Reims. It’s a team coached by an unlicensed coach, a club fined stage after stage because of this. At the same time, after PSG and Lens, it is the most difficult team to beat in the French first league. It has only lost four times – and then in matches with special history. Reims is a specialist in wins and draws. Of all the major European leagues, there is no team that does X at the rate Reims does – thirteen.
So the ideal bet for Reims is this: bet that they won’t lose. It showed on Sunday in Monaco, where they won narrowly, 1-0. I was drawing your attention to this team that is hard to beat – this might be, as bettors have always and everywhere say, money on the floor or easy money.
