Three posters for three trophies, six different countries represented, but not France.

Of the "Big 5" of European championships, only Ligue 1 has failed to send a team to the final of one of the continental competitions.

Worse, the Netherlands, with Feyenoord Rotterdam, and Scotland, thanks to Glasgow Rangers, have beaten the pawn to a nation which, despite the good results of the Blues, is struggling to compete with its clubs.

It will take another year to find a successor to PSG, the last French team to win the Coupe des Coupes in 1996.

Fewer defeats...except in knockout matches

The way in which OM fell to Feyenoord (3-2 defeat, then 0-0) - when the Marseille club had "the squad to win the C4", according to its midfielder Mattéo Guendouzi - gives the effect of a hangover.

However, the tricolor formations managed a much better exercise than that of last year.

Their loss ratio dropped from 60% to 13%.

In the Champions League and the Europa League, the French representatives have accumulated 17 victories, against eleven a year earlier (with the same number of games played, i.e. 38).

The fine performances of Lille, who finished at the top of their C1 group, or Lyon and Monaco, undefeated in their C3 pool, for a time suggested that it was possible to have a French finalist in each of the competitions. .

"I think it's the right one," OL president Jean-Michel Aulas said at the end of March.

"'Forever the first' is always in fashion with us", slipped his Marseille counterpart Pablo Longoria, after his team was transferred from C3 to C4.

It is during the knockout phase that the shoe pinches.

With five defeats in ten matches in C1 and C3 (i.e. 50%), France is doing less well than Germany (25%), England (36%), Italy and Spain (both at 37 .5%).

Thus, PSG stopped in the round of 16 of the C1, after having suffered a "remontada" from Real Madrid, when Lyon did not reach the last four of the C3, released by West Ham.

Monaco was eliminated in the eighth round of C3 by the Portuguese from Braga.

Such a financial delay

These results are reflected in the annual report of the financial policeman of French football (DNCG) for the 2020-2021 season, published on Wednesday: the average revenues of L1 clubs (81 million euros) are the lowest in the "Big 5" European, far behind those of the rich Premier League (258 million euros).

The "entry ticket" for Europe, that is to say the turnover from which 90% of the clubs participate in a continental competition, amounts to 60 million euros in France, against 90 million euros in Spain, 140 million euros in Italy or 440 million euros in England.

An economic delay which raises fears of new lean seasons for the French representatives... One of the rare satisfactions is to have retained fifth place in the UEFA index against Portugal (sixth), which did not shone brighter this season.

Keeping this position will allow France to have a third direct ticket for the C1 from 2024 – probably too fair for next year.

The Rangers would have to win the C3 against Eintracht Frankfurt, as well as the Scottish championship for third place in L1 to give the right to play in the Champions League without going through the play-off box.

An unlikely scenario given the delay of the "Gers" (six points) on the leader, Celtic, three days from the end.

With AFP

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