Daniel Riolo, a journalist for RMC Sport, spoke on the media to highlight Ligue 1. He notably used a comparison of the PSG vs Strasbourg and Liverpool vs Manchester United matches to do so. According to him, it’s clear that the French league has made good progress.
Riolo: “It’s an incredible upheaval.”
“I see almost nothing but good matches, good intentions at the very least. Even if there are sometimes less than stellar defenses. To know the level of your league, it’s on weekday evenings. We suffered for years on Thursdays when we saw the points scored for the UEFA Index. Now, we can sometimes, with a bit of a laugh, imagine a grand slam. It’s an incredible upheaval.”
When I look at other leagues, I’ve talked a lot about England, the benchmark, the strongest, whatever… But, I’m sorry, Liverpool-United was not as good as PSG-Strasbourg. I didn’t watch the Ligue 1 multiplex to see that big match in England. I want to see El Clasico, matches in Italy.
Riolo: “We need to build on that in the second half of the season.”
But Lille won at Roma, we’ll see. We need to build on that in the second half of the season. I hope to see Strasbourg make a real splash in the Conference League. I’m delighted, I like what I’m seeing.”
It’s good to hear positive things about a Ligue 1 that has often been panned by “experts” and journalists in France. Including Riolo, by the way. But there’s been some improvement in the playing philosophies, which can help highlight certain talents.
They have always been there, even if some preferred to dismiss the players because of their sometimes very defensive style of play. The same players were later admired abroad. Leagues outside France are often glorified, while many only see highlights and focus on a few teams.
There is real quality in France, where it would be especially important to retain a few more players. But we have seen some interesting signings, clubs that are finally managing to build a real team in an intelligent way. Let’s hope this continues, with managers who manage to work in harmony rather than the tensions we have seen in order to regain stability in terms of TV rights. This could come through a Ligue 1+ success, after an interesting start.
