Paris Saint-Germain secured their third Ligue 1 title in as many years with one round remaining last season, joining Lyon, Marseille and Saint-Etienne, the clubs who had previously won three successive French titles. PSG have also won the French Cup with a 1-0 win over the second-tier outfit Auxerre. The victory completed a domestic treble for coach Laurent Blanc's men, with the French League Cup also snapped up, defeating Bastia 4-0 in the final.
PSG's route to a third straight title had its complications, notably after a slow start. Three wins and an astonishing six draws in their opening nine matches saw PSG lying in third place, seven points behind Marseille. Results improved as the campaign wore on, and the Parisians lost just two league games in 2015, winning their last nine matches. Blanc noted he was more satisfied winning the league with one round left, than last year when they did it with three to go.
- Champions and Cup winners: Paris Saint-Germain (Champions League group stage)
- Runners-up: Lyon (Champions League group stage)
- Third place: Monaco (UEFA Champions QR3)
- Fourth place: Marseille (Europa League group stage)
- Fifth place: Saint-Etienne (Europa League QR3)
- Sixth place: Bordeaux (Europa League QR3)
- Relegated: Metz, Lens, Evian
- Promoted: Angers, Ajaccio, Troyes
| team | titles | 10/11 | 11/12 | 12/13 | 13/14 | 14/15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Etienne | 10 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Marseille | 9 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| Nantes | 8 | - | - | - | 13 | 14 |
| Lyon | 7 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| Monaco | 7 | 18 | - | - | 2 | 3 |
| Bordeaux | 6 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Reims | 6 | - | - | 14 | 11 | 15 |
| Paris SG | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Nice | 4 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 17 | 11 |
| Lille | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 8 |
| Montpellier | 1 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 15 | 7 |
| Rennes | - | 6 | 6 | 13 | 12 | 9 |
| Toulouse | - | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 17 |
| Lorient | - | 11 | 17 | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| Bastia | - | - | - | 12 | 10 | 12 |
| Guingamp | - | - | - | - | 16 | 10 |
| Caen | - | 15 | 18 | - | - | 13 |
| Ajaccio | - | - | 16 | 17 | 19 | - |
| Troyes | - | - | - | 19 | - | - |
| Angers | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Renard named new Lille coach
The former Ivory Coast coach Herve Renard takes over at Lille from Rene Girard, who left the Ligue 1 club by mutual consent after two seasons in charge. Earlier this year, Renard led the Ivory Coast to its first African Cup of Nations title since 1992, three years after leading unheralded Zambia to the African Cup. The 46-year-old Frenchman has agreed a three-year contract with Lille, who finished a disappointing eighth last season. Renard has coached in the French league before, when he was briefly in charge of Sochaux from 2013-14 but couldn't save them from being relegated from Ligue 1.
Fournier signs new contract
Lyon coach Hubert Fournier and his staff have signed new contracts and they will now be tied to the French club until 2017. They finished second in Ligue 1 last season, pushing Paris Saint-Germain until the final two weeks of the title race and comfortably securing qualification for the UEFA Champions League group stage. Fournier, who like many of his coaching staff was coming into the final year of his contract, has been rewarded with an extra 12 months at the helm. The 47-year-old, who played for Lyon for one season, has been in charge of the seven-time champions since 2014 after an impressive spell at Reims.
| # | team | points | g.dif. | win-draw-loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris SG | 83 | 47 | 24-11-3 (38) |
| 2 | Lyon | 75 | 39 | 22-9-7 (38) |
| 3 | Monaco | 71 | 25 | 20-11-7 (38) |
| 4 | Marseille | 69 | 34 | 21-6-11 (38) |
| 5 | St.Etienne | 69 | 21 | 19-12-7 (38) |
| 6 | Bordeaux | 63 | 3 | 17-12-9 (38) |
| 7 | Montpel. | 56 | 7 | 16-8-14 (38) |
| 8 | Lille | 56 | 1 | 16-8-14 (38) |
| 9 | Rennes | 50 | -7 | 13-11-14 (38) |
| 10 | Guingamp | 49 | -14 | 15-4-19 (38) |
| 11 | Nice | 48 | -9 | 13-9-16 (38) |
| 12 | Bastia | 47 | -9 | 12-11-15 (38) |
| 13 | Caen | 46 | -1 | 12-10-16 (38) |
| 14 | Nantes | 45 | -11 | 11-12-15 (38) |
| 15 | Reims | 44 | -19 | 12-8-18 (38) |
| 16 | Lorient | 43 | -6 | 12-7-19 (38) |
| 17 | Toulouse | 42 | -21 | 12-6-20 (38) |
| 18 | Evian | 37 | -21 | 11-4-23 (38) |
| 19 | Metz | 30 | -30 | 7-9-22 (38) |
| 20 | Lens | 29 | -29 | 7-8-23 (38) |
French football league standings for season 2014/2015.
PSG tipped for title
According to the online bookmakers Paris Saint-Germain are heavy favourites to win the Ligue 1 title this season. The Qatari-backed club also have a free hand in this summer's transfer window after UEFA lifted financial fair play restrictions. Both Manchester City and PSG competed in last season's Champions League with just 21 players instead of the usual 25 and also had their spending capped at €60m for breaches of FFP regulations. Both clubs had accepted that they could not increase their wage bills during the 2015 and 2016 financial years and had agreed to significantly limit transfer spending for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons. However, UEFA relaxed its regulations and decided that the remaining two years' fines for City and PSG will not be imposed. PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi said the decision would allow PSG to better compete with the traditional European giants and added: "We are mindful that the settlement signed last year with UEFA is still applicable. Our club has, among other objectives, to reach a break-even result in 2015/16, so we will spend our money on the right players as we always did it and this will help the PSG to grow. We don't have an unlimited budget."
Paris Saint-Germain are now back in the race for the signing of Angel Di Maria. The Argentine winger was reportedly close to joining the French champions last summer, but Financial Fair Play restrictions ended any chance of him moving to Ligue 1 at that time. Instead, he joined Manchester United for a British transfer record €75m. A year later, with FFP on its way out, PSG are free to strike for their wanted man. Since the Qatar Sports Investments took over the running and financing of the club four years ago, a top player has been added to the squad each summer - Javier Pastore (€43m) in 2011, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva (more than €60m) in 2012, Edinson Cavani (€64m) in 2013 and David Luiz (€50m) in 2014. However, the left-hand side has been an issue for coach Laurent Blanc over the last two seasons and Di Maria would fill the gap perfectly. French media reported that a deal to bring the 27-year-old to Paris was imminent and that the transfer fee would be around €63m.
| team | odds | team | odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSG | 1.14 | Nice | 501 |
| Lyon | 11 | Lorient | 751 |
| Monaco | 17 | Toulouse | 751 |
| Marseille | 21 | Guingamp | 1001 |
| St Etienne | 101 | Caen | 1001 |
| Bordeaux | 151 | Reims | 1001 |
| Lille | 201 | Troyes | 1001 |
| Montpellier | 251 | Bastia | 1001 |
| Rennes | 301 | Angers | 1001 |
| Nantes | 501 | Ajaccio | 1501 |
The preseason odds for the outright winner of the 2015/16 French football league
French Cup (Coupe de France) finals in last five years
2015 Paris Saint-Germain - Auxerre 1:0
2014 Guingamp - Rennes 2:0
2013 Bordeaux - Evian 3:2
2012 Lyon - Quevilly 1:0
2011 Lille - Paris Saint-Germain 1:0
2014 Guingamp - Rennes 2:0
2013 Bordeaux - Evian 3:2
2012 Lyon - Quevilly 1:0
2011 Lille - Paris Saint-Germain 1:0
League Cup (Coupe de Ligue) finals in last five years
2015 Paris Saint-Germain - Bastia 4:0
2014 Paris Saint-Germain - Lyon 2:1
2013 Saint-Etienne - Rennes 1:0
2012 Marseille - Lyon 1:0 (after extra time)
2011 Marseille - Montpellier 1:0
2014 Paris Saint-Germain - Lyon 2:1
2013 Saint-Etienne - Rennes 1:0
2012 Marseille - Lyon 1:0 (after extra time)
2011 Marseille - Montpellier 1:0
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