CBC-Sports

Vive la France! Ligue 1 offers plenty of excitement

March 16, 2009 01:34 PM | Posted by   John Molinaro  

Question: what do the Premiership, Serie A and La Liga all have in common this season?

Answer: the title races in those leagues already appear to be over with 10 games or more left in the campaign.

So let's offer up a special hurrah to Ligue Un, the French first division, where the championship is far from decided.

Olympique Marseille moved into second place by beating Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Sunday, a result that left the top of the French league standings looking pretty crowded.

With the win, Marseille closed the gap on defending champions Olympique Lyon, who lost to Auxerre 2-0 on Sunday, its first defeat at home of the season.

Lyon still leads the division with 53 points, but both Marseille and PSG have 52, while Bordeaux is at 50. With 49 points each, both Toulouse and Lille are also within striking distance of Lyon, as is seventh-place Renne (47 points).

A seven-horse title race? That would unthinkable in England, Italy or Spain where the gulf between the rich and no-so-rich clubs is as wide as the eye can see.

But not so in France, where even though Lyon has won the last seven league championships in a row, the title race is usually pretty exciting: Lyon fought off a stern challenge from Bordeux in 2007-08 and didn't clinch the title until the final day of the season.

The pageantry of this year's title chase isn't lost on the players.

"The league is getting exciting," Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda told the club's official website. "It's undecided. We're catching up. Lyon is within a point."

I know Ligue Un can't even compare to Europe's top divisions in terms of star power or prestige, but as someone who has closely followed the division for the past 10 years, I can attest to the quality of the league and standard of play.

Some fans believe the French league is boring, but I've consistently been blown away by the intrigue and drama that unfolds in Ligue Un each year.

Sunday's game between PSG and Marseille is a perfect example - it was a 90-minute thrill ride featuring plenty of tiwsts and turns, highlight-reel goals and lively fan atmosphere.

While the eyes of the soccer world were firmly focused on Old Trafford where Liverpool cruised to a 4-1 win, it was actually at the Parc de Princes where the best game of the weekend in Europe took place.

What's also great about Ligue Un is that if offers soccer fans a chance to see the crop of promising young French and African talent emerge before they go off to play in one of Europe's "big three" leagues.

I've had the pleasure of watching the likes of Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Robert Pires, and countless others cut their teeth in France, long before they became international stars.

While the Premiership, Serie A and La Liga continue to hog the headlines, Ligue Un remains European soccer's best-kept secret.

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