Among the top European championships, Ligue 1 is often underestimated and therefore overlooked.
In the 2020/21 season, this is seen as a flagrant injustice.
After all, purely tournament intrigues, as well as zests that add spice to the football environment, are abundant here.
Therefore, we will tell you about the most interesting moments in the life of the top French division.
Four teams claim gold
Three rounds before the finish, mathematically, Lyon (70 points), Monaco (71), Paris Saint-Germain (75) and Lille (76) remain in the race for the title.
For the championship, where seven of the past eight seasons remained with PSG, the situation is unique.
As well as for League 1 as a whole. Indeed, over the past half century, they have become accustomed to the frequent hegemony of a single team.
So, in the mid-1960s and early 1970s, Saint-Etienne did not give the winner's laurels to anyone, the end of the 1980s was dictated by Marseille, the beginning of the 21st century was marked by the dominance of Lyon, after which the Arab sheikhs for a long time took the gold to Paris.
Now PSG was forced to be distracted from work to defend the national title for the semi-final battle of the Champions League.
Whereas the main rival acted in an ideal match-a-week schedule - and at the finish line he will fight with Lens, Saint-Etienne and Angers, who are by no means the most skillful competitors.
However, not only this puts additional pressure on PSG.
In personal meetings with Lille, the Pochettino team did not shine (0: 0, 0: 1), which means that even the point-to-point equality at the end of the season will not make Neymar happy with Killian Mbappé.
Moreover, there is a mathematical alignment in which PSG runs the risk of being left without medals at all.
True, for this the Parisians will have to give way to Rennes, Reims and Brest, which is not very likely.
Add to this the importance for Lyon and Monaco to take the maximum points - and you will understand that the failure of the Champions League semi-finalist, if any, will be the loudest sensation of the football spring in Europe.
Potential champion could go to League 2
Let "Lille" be called a champion without five minutes, it is not only Parisian pressure that prevents him from looking optimistically to the future. Former club president Gerard Lopez took out a loan in 2017, which has not yet been paid off. Despite the sales at the crazy price tag of Victor Osimkhen (about € 50 million) and Nicolas Pepe (£ 72 million), only half of the borrowed amount was repaid. The change of ownership also did not affect the balance sheet in a positive way - until the end of August, Lille is obliged to pay about € 120 million in liabilities. Otherwise, the team will face sanctions.
In 2018, in a similar situation, the Dogs faced the prospect of a forced transfer to Ligue 2. But then they escaped a demotion by transfers of footballers, which provided an influx of about € 58 million. Now much more is required to earn.
But because of the pandemic, the market sagged, which threatens Lille with putting up a good half of the composition for auction.
A team from the fourth division applies for the Europa League
The distribution system for teams in European international tournaments in France is straightforward.
The two best teams in the country are automatically sent to the Champions League group stage.
Bronze winner - in the third round of qualification.
The one who finished fourth is delegated to the LE, the fifth - to the new tournament under the auspices of UEFA - the Conference League.
However, in addition to the participants in the championship, a bonus is also prepared for the winner of the French Cup.
And this is where the most interesting thing begins: the modest Rumilli-Vallière joined the elite PSG, Monaco and Montpellier at the semi-final stage.
Starting from the 1/128 finals, the club from the fourth division (in fact, amateur) not only went so far, but also won in the course of Toulouse from League 2. Two more successful steps - and the representative of 15 qualifies for the Europa League. - a thousandth town that has never risen above the fourth floor of the French football pyramid.
It is clear that even beating Monaco will be daunting for the club, not to mention the potential final.
But the charges of Fatsah Amgar were not put into anything before.
And they are still in business - unlike most of the representatives of the elite division.
By the way, Lance, occupying the fifth line in the table, can also get into European cups.
And this is an equally remarkable story.
After all, it was only in the summer that the team got a promotion.
Nevertheless, the "weavers" are in no way inferior to the old-timers of the elite - and so far they are holding higher than the much more wealthy "Marseilles" and "Rennes".
Eight teams changed coaches during the season
In an effort to excel throughout the season, nearly half of Ligue 1 competitors have turned down head coaches. The spread turned out to be the widest. For example, Thomas Tuchel, who took PSG to the Champions League final last summer, and Julien Stephane, the author of Rennes' cup success in 2019 and the first coach in the history of red and blacks, who led the club to the Champions League group stage, lost their jobs. I could not restart the career of the ex-Zenit manager Andre Villas-Boas, who left Marseille with a scandal - the Portuguese attributed the club's weak results to insufficient transfer efficiency of the management.
The legendary defensive midfielder Patrick Vieira in the past was actually fired by fans who were so enraged by Nice's weak performance that they even blocked the club bus, if only the club bosses could hear their calls for the Frenchman's resignation.
Finally, “Nantes” fired the head coaches already twice: having put on the natives of the old school - Christian Gourcuff and Raymond Domenech - they were notoriously miscalculated.
And now they are fighting to maintain a residence permit in the elite division under the leadership of an experienced, but much more progressive Antoine Cambuare.
Also refused the services of the head coaches "Dijon", "Nimes" and "Metz".
But only the latter benefited from the reshuffle.
The "owls" have already officially lost their chances to maintain their residence in the elite, and the "crocodiles", most likely, will follow the path of their neighbor in the table in the next round.
Young talents make their mark
The unofficial name of the top French division is the Talent League.
This is how the competition positions itself in the media environment, and tries to promote itself in social networks just as boldly.
Fortunately, there is enough material to attract attention and confirm the motto.
Suffice it to say that in the second half of the season, teams that solve tournament problems ahead of schedule prioritize the break-in of young footballers.
They tend to present the most talented teenagers in the most favorable light so that they can then be sold at a profit.
Therefore, pre-screening is carried out in academies and reserve teams, after which really very gifted guys are shown to the world.
In the 2020/21 draw, several young footballers have already shown themselves brilliantly.
Ryan Sherki entered the field on Sunday against Monaco in the 88th minute and brought Lyon a major away win.
At 17, the midfielder has already scored nearly three dozen appearances for the main team - and has attracted the attention of leading clubs in Europe.
Bordeaux striker Sekou Mara scored a home win with a single goal against Rennes, provoking comparisons with Moise Keene.
But if the Italian, who is the second sniper of PSG, is already 21 years old, then the French with Senegalese roots is only 18 - and he has become the team's youngest goalscorer since 2007.
Dion Lopi from Reims looks just as promising.
The 19-year-old midfielder has been in the starting lineup for the last three games - and has left fans wondering why he hasn't been seen before.
After all, he made balanced and adult decisions that positively influenced the team.
Similar epithets apply to Sinali Diomanda, with the only difference that the Ivorian is much more trusted at Lyon - and this season alone, he has already played 25 matches.
One of the brightest Russian midfielders plays here
The season at Monaco for Alexander Golovin turns out to be full of hardships.
A hip injury, prolonged recovery, coronavirus - all this unsettled the leader of the Russian national team.
However, the midfielder each time managed not only to recover, but to gain excellent shape, after which he turned into a key performer for the team.
The midfielder several times pulled out even or knowingly losing meetings for the Monegasques, for a long time went to the top 3 assistants of Ligue 1 and even designed his debut hat-trick in the Monaco uniform. For such bright performances, Alexander was regularly praised by the head coach of the team Niko Kovacs, and the fans recognized the legionnaire as the best player of the month at the end of February. In fact, it was Golovin who became the brand of Russian football-2020/21 in Europe and helped the French championship to gain maximum brightness.