Fueled by funding from Qatar, Paris Saint-Germain’s crushing dominance this season has removed all suspense from Ligue 1, with 16 matches remaining.
Unless you are a PSG fan, the excitement factor has evaporated. PSG already lead closest rivals AS Monaco by a colossal 21 points and have only setting domestic records to worry about.
At the current rate, PSG are likely to finish on 104 points — smashing its own record by 15 points — while coach Laurent Blanc’s side is on course to score about 100 league goals and concede the leas-ever in a season.
Photo: AFP
A second straight domestic treble is odds-on, with PSG playing in the Coupe de la Ligue semi-finals on Thursday, and if they avoid defeat at AS Saint-Etienne on Sunday, they will equal the longest unbeaten league run of 32 games, set by Nantes 21 years ago.
PSG’s Qatari owners, Qatar Sports Investments, have pumped hundreds of millions of US dollars into the club since taking over in June 2011 in a bid to join Europe’s elite.
The club is worth about 480 million euros (US$520.67 million) in terms of revenue, making it the fourth-richest behind Manchester United, Barcelona and No. 1 Real Madrid, according to Deloitte’s rankings.
It is all too easy, meaning that Blanc’s side are likely to ultimately be judged on how well they do in the UEFA Champions League — having lost in the quarter-finals for the past three seasons — rather by how many points they win their fourth straight title by.
Therefore, it is understandable that Blanc has spent the past two weeks talking about the importance of being ready to face Chelsea in the last 16 — even though the first leg is not until Feb. 16.
However, in doing so, he might as well grab a megaphone and tell everyone how weak the domestic competition is. Saturday’s 5-1 hammering of Angers SCO extended an unbeaten league run dating back to March 15 last year, matched a club record for 11 straight wins and improved PSG’s whopping goal-difference to 46.
At the ripe age of 34, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is on course for his best ever tally — he has 17 league goals so far, despite missing five games — while winger Angel di Maria has already beaten his league-scoring record as well as setting up the most goals in Ligue 1.
PSG’s only defeat anywhere was 1-0 away to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Nov. 3 last year.
In boxing terms, PSG’s dominance would be the equivalent of a heavyweight champion knocking out petrified middleweights within a minute of the opening round.
Seven-time French champions Olympique Lyonnais and nine-time champions Olympique de Marseille did challenge last season, but both now languish 30 points behind.
Monaco threatened to upstage PSG after a massive cash outlay under Russian billionaire owner Dmitry Rybolovlev three years ago, but then did everything to undermine that bid.
In the past two seasons, Monaco have sold Colombia’s FIFA World Cup star James Rodriguez to Real Madrid, France midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia to Inter, speedy winger Yannick Ferreira Carrasco to Atletico Madrid, lynchpin defender Aymen Abdennour to Valencia and rising star Anthony Martial to Manchester United — as well as letting once-feared striker Radamel Falcao join United on loan.
For a club hoping to challenge PSG, that is a funny way of showing it.
Instead, Monaco have now become purely a profit-making club — and a very good one — using their vast scouting network to recruit exceptionally talented young players and sell them for a profit. Even if Monaco do finish second, it would be hard to bet against the club selling more of its promising assets.
Monaco have achieved one thing PSG never has, though — reaching the Champions League final, in 2004 — and Marseille won it in 1993.
However, Marseille only have an outside shot of qualifying for next season’s Champions League and, having spent several seasons clearing debts, they have scant funds available.
Owner Margarita Louis-Dreyfus is increasingly keen to sell — the asking price is between 85 million and 100 million euros — with potential buyers from Kazakhstan, Kuwait and China showing an interest, according to reports.
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