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Player Focus: Should Hatem Ben Arfa go to Euro 2016?

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Player Focus: Should Hatem Ben Arfa go to Euro 2016? Some things never change. As Hatem Ben Arfa responded to questions in the media area of the Allianz Riviera after his match winning performance on Friday night, the Nice midfielder was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. It was from the hand of Saïd Chabane, the president of Angers, whose tea...

League Focus: Relegation Battle Warms Up French Winter

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League Focus: Relegation Battle Warms Up French Winter One of the most curious, and most-quoted, statistics of the first half of the Ligue 1 season was a by-product of Paris Saint-Germain’s growing dominance of French football. Going into Christmas, second-placed Monaco were closer to the bottom three (13 points away) than they were to Laurent Bla...

League Focus: Five Observations From the First Half of Ligue 1 2015/16

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League Focus: Five Observations From the First Half of Ligue 1 2015/16 PSG's history boysThough the neutral might regret that the Ligue 1 title race is effectively over at the halfway stage, there is no getting around Paris Saint-Germain’s excellence. Laurent Blanc’s team are so much better than last season, in which they gave their rivals a proper sniff of...

Team Focus: Changes Needed if Bordeaux are to Return to Former Glories

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Team Focus: Changes Needed if Bordeaux are to Return to Former Glories Joueurs sans fierté, Virage Sud deserté. Few Ligue 1 goals this season have been scored against such an uncomfortable backdrop as Cédric Yambéré's recent winner for Bordeaux versus Guingamp. The 2009 champions should be full of optimism right now, still enjoying th...

Team Focus: Antonetti’s Instant Impact at Lille

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Team Focus: Antonetti’s Instant Impact at Lille “The change of coach doesn’t explain it,” said Lille’s Sofiane Boufal on Saturday night, struggling to put his finger on just how his team’s fortunes have taken a U-turn in the space of four days. “We’ve always worked hard.” There’s working, thou...

Match Focus: Marseille and Monaco Lay Bare Both Strengths and Shortcomings

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Match Focus: Marseille and Monaco Lay Bare Both Strengths and Shortcomings “Lots of goals, for nothing,” read the headline in Monday’s L’Equipe. A harsh summary, perhaps, of Sunday night’s thrilling final game of the Ligue 1 weekend, especially if you value entertaining football, but it was also a reminder that the passing of 12 months has mad...

Team Focus: PSG Show Versatility On Tough Weekend

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Team Focus: PSG Show Versatility On Tough Weekend “We would have liked to do something else (other than playing),” said Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc after Saturday’s win at Lorient. Despite that, he was at a loss to know what that something was. “We represent Paris, the team of the capital. We have to do what we k...

Team Focus: Belgium Not Yet Transcendent but Among Euro Favourites

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Team Focus: Belgium Not Yet Transcendent but Among Euro Favourites Plenty still claim that international friendlies are meaningless, but you’d have had a job on your hands telling that to Belgium fans last week. The King Baudouin Stadium has been the venue for significant outpourings of joy in the past few years - most recently after the 3-1 victory over Isra...

Match Focus: Lyon Finally Step Up On Historic Night

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Match Focus: Lyon Finally Step Up On Historic Night His 150th appearance in Ligue 1. The final derby between Olympique Lyonnais and Saint Etienne at Stade de Gerland. Never let it be said that Alexandre Lacazette has anything less than a perfect sense of timing. “I lived out a dream,” the Lyon striker said after hitting the hat-trick whic...

Match Focus: Feisty Brittany Derby Flips the Region’s Script

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Match Focus: Feisty Brittany Derby Flips the Region’s Script So when Guingamp take on Lorient, it’s not a ‘real’ derby? Try telling that to anyone involved at the Stade de Roudourou on Saturday night. Though these two modest clubs are separated from one another by 110km and are (figuratively speaking, at least) even further from the traditio...