The Parisian outfit have won eight of the 10 titles in their 52-year history over the last ten seasons and are the favorites for the title this season. This summer PSG has equaled Saint-Étienne’s record of 41 years ago. With an almost limitless budget since the club’s acquisition by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011, PSG have become, as President Nasser Al-Khelaifi promised at the time, France’s biggest name and a team capable of conquering the UEFA Champions League, a goal still unfulfilled but which remains the main target for the Parisians.
PSG got off to a flying start to the new Ligue 1 season, taking the top spot in the first round after a 5-0 win at the Stade Gabriel Montpied in Clermont-Ferrand. Les Parisiens have finally found a manager capable of managing a dressing room full of superstars. It’s Christophe Galtier, 56, the last coach to put PSG to the test. That was in the 2020-2021 season, when Christophe Galtier won the title with Lille OSC. Respected and admired by the football world, Galtier enjoys the support of the club’s management, but sooner or later he must bring the much-coveted UEFA Champions League trophy to “24 Rue du Commandant Guilbaud”. But it won’t be an easy task.
Galtier is counting on the team’s homogeneity in the new season. The Kylian Mbappé soap opera ended well after a summer in which rumors that the superstar was leaving for Real Madrid caused panic at the Parisian club. One of the best players in the world thus continues at PSG, alongside Argentinian Lionel Messi, for whom the settling-in period has passed. Brought in last year from FC Barcelona, Messi seems to have found his stride, even though he turns 35 in June. Paris’ attacking treble is completed by Brazilian Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, perhaps the most spoiled footballer in the history of the French club. At 30, Neymar seems to have grown up! In the first nine official matches of the new season (league, French Cup and Champions League), Neymar has scored ten times!
A flying start for Olympique de Marseille, who maintain the momentum from last season when they finished second in Ligue 1. The changes to the technical bench, with Argentine Jorge Sampaoli leaving and Croatian Igor Tudor arriving, have sparked much comment. At first contested even by some of the players, the 44-year-old coach, in his first experience in France, seems to be the perfect choice. It remains to be seen whether OM will keep pace with PSG in the endurance race that ends on 4 June 2023. Olympique de Marseille last won the title in 2009-2010 with Didier Deschamps at the helm, a season in which PSG finished 13th!
Eight times champions, most recently in 2017, and seven times runners-up in France, AS Monaco got off to a shaky start to the season (two draws and two defeats), losing touch with PSG and OM. The Monegasques decided to continue with Belgian coach Philippe Clement, who arrived in January from Club Brugge. Clement welcomed to training this summer defensive midfielder Mohamed Camara (RB Salzburg), winger Takumi Minamino (FC Liverpool), central defender Breel Embolo (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Malang Sarr, also a central defender (on loan from Chelsea). True, Monaco lost Aurélien Tchouameni, the 22-year-old midfielder, but received €80 million from Real Madrid in exchange!
Ligue 1 lost two big names at the end of last season, two former champions: FC Girondins de Bordeaux – relegated from the top flight of French football after 30 years, and Saint-Étienne – after eighteen years. Also relegated, along with Bordeaux and Saint-Étienne, is FC Metz – after three years in the topflight.
The places vacated by the three relegated sides were filled by Toulouse – after two years of Ligue 2, AC Ajaccio – after eight years and AJ Auxerre – after ten years.
The relegation battle will be a very exciting one, as the last four teams (17th, 18th, 19th and 20th) will be relegated from Ligue 1 directly this season.
The fight for the top two positions that guarantee a place in the UEFA Champions League group stage next season will also be a terrific one, as PSG already seems to have a guaranteed Champions League booking!
