France Soccer

Will I see you at Summers wearing the good ole blue cheering on France with me in this year’s Euro 2008? I got my jersey ready, do you?

Well this year at least we had an exciting finish.  The France soccer season has come to an end as Lyon has won the title yet again.  The club’s seventh title in a row came as the team defeated Auxerre 3-1.  Girondins Bordeaux could manage nothing more than a 1-1 draw at Racing Lens, but it was a moot point anyway.  Lyon will now face nearly relegated Paris Saint-Germain for the French Cup.

In more top of the Ligue excitement, Marseille earned a spot in the Champions qualifying tournament as AS Nancy Lorraine dropped another match and it managed to stay ahead of Strasbourg.  Neither team finished all that strong in France soccer play.

The final standings indicate that Lens, Strasbourg, and Metz will all be relegated to Ligue 2. Le Havre, Nantes, andGrenoble will be moving into Ligue 1.

It is looking more and more that this is Lyon’s year to take the French Ligue Championship.  In a hard fought game against AS Nancy, Lyon came out on top 1-0 as Brazil’s Andre Luiz netted the game winner.  Bordeaux refused to accept second place, as it remained two points down with a victory against Sochaux.  Marseille could not fully take advantage of the Nancy loss, as it only managed a draw with Le Mans, leaving it one point below Nancy for the Champions Cup qualifying tournament position.  While Nancy still controls its own fate, Marseille has an advantage facing lowly Strasbourg while Nancy must face the fiesty Rennes.

What makes the fight for first place all the more interesting is that both teams will face a team fighting to avoid relegation.  For Bordeaux it is Lens and Lyon gets Paris Saint-Germain.  PSG scored a huge draw against St. Etienne, while Toulouse and Lens both lost.  Currently it is Lens in the relegation position on goals, tied with Toulouse with points.