French soccer was dominated by Paris Saint-Germain this year, but the game in the country has regularly been overshadowed by affairs off the field over the past 12 months.
PSG won an unprecedented clean sweep of the domestic trophies last season and have enjoyed a record-breaking first half to the current campaign that has seen them open up an enormous lead at the top of Ligue 1.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the dominant personality in the French game, wrote his name firmly into the history books by passing Pauleta’s club record tally of 109 goals in all competitions when he scored a brace in a 2-1 win for PSG over bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille in October.
Photo: AFP
Olympique Lyonnais played their final game at their old Stade de Gerland this month and move into an impressive new 59,000-seat stadium early in the New Year.
The French soccer landscape is changing as Girondins de Bordeaux also took up residence in a new stadium earlier this year as France gears up for Euro 2016.
The finals could mark the dawn of a new era for the game in France after a difficult past few months.
It is a nation still raw from the terror attacks in and around Paris that left 130 people dead, with the national sport one of the targets on the night of Nov. 13.
Before the full scale of what was happening became clear, three loud explosions emanated from outside the Stade de France during a France-Germany friendly.
The game carried on in a surreal atmosphere and only later did it become clear that the explosions were suicide bomb attacks.
“We are all proud to be French and what’s happened will leave a mark on all of us,” France coach Didier Deschamps said.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
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