PARIS - Nice and Marseille have been summoned to a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday after their Ligue 1 match on Sunday had to be abandoned due to crowd trouble, said the French professional league (LFP).
The match at Nice's Allianz Riviera was abandoned in the 75th minute on Sunday after Marseille players clashed with home fans who pelted them with missiles and stormed onto the pitch.
Nice and Marseille’s Ligue 1 match at the Allianz Riviera on Sunday was brought to a halt in the 75th minute when Marseille’s Dimitri Payet, taking a corner kick beside the Nice ultras, responded angrily to all the debris being hurled at him.
Everyone knows that ultras can dish it out but are soft as hell when it comes to taking it, so the entire stand poured out onto the pitch to show Payet its collective toughness. Nothing says “we’re hard” like a good old 500 vs. 1 melee.
Ligue 1 gets a lot of shit these days. As the fifth-best league in Europe, it’s often derided as a “farmer’s league” by the snobbier football fans. Anyone who has actually paid attention to Ligue 1 over the last few years knows this isn’t the case. With the addition of Lionel Messi to the league now official, here are five reasons you should watch Ligue 1 not named Messi.
After a potential title chase ended up in a fifth-place finish and a change of manager, Olympique de Marseille has been remarkably active in the transfer window this summer.
Jorge Sampaoli has been backed to the tune of $52 million as Marseille has secured 10 signings thus far. This summer has been one of transition for the side from France's second city, as Valère Germain, Yuto Nagatomo and Florian Thauvin have left the club in addition to academy graduate Maxime Lopez, Kevin Strootman and Hiroki Sakai.
Come August, there are always a few clubs that capture the imagination with their audacious summer spending before inevitably collapsing by October. Usually this is Everton.
The return of a club legend, the signing of a highly touted prodigy or a loan move for a big-name player whose career has stalled (or preferably all three in one window) are the usual fixings for getting way too hyped before the start of a new campaign.
Tigres are once again turning to France to boost their offensive capabilities. The Liga MX club that’s become a second home to André-Pierre Gignac signed World Cup winner Florian Thauvin, who will join the club after he completes his 2020-21 campaign with Marseille, Tigres announced Friday. The Florian Thauvin Tigres move will be a free transfer.
As domestic leagues across Europe enter the final weeks of their seasons, not only are league titles at stake, but qualification for next season's Champions League is also yet to be resolved.
Only 11 of the 26 automatic qualification spots for the UCL group stage have been officially determined, and more than half of the 55 playoff spots are up for grabs.
With so many bids up for grabs across the continent, tracking the qualification process can be very difficult.
Somewhere in an alternate universe, Lionel Messi is the best player MLS has ever seen, Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani are both pushing for their third MLS Cup and the United States is the premier destination for global footballing talent.
In the meantime, we'll have to settle for a new signing who, while not quite as well-known, is arguably more intriguing than any player to ever put on an MLS kit.
Portuguese coach André Villas-Boas announced that he has resigned as coach of Olympique de Marseille because he disagrees with the club's sporting policy, although he said he will remain in charge of the team "until the management board lets him go."
"I have submitted my resignation to the management board, I have not yet received an answer," the coach said at a press conference ahead of a league game against Lens.
French police in Marseille were holding 18 people in custody on Sunday after hundreds of fans stormed the training ground of soccer club Olympique de Marseille a day earlier, the local prosecutor said.
The hardcore Ultras were demonstrating against the club's leadership and a poor run of results. The supporters forced their way into the Commanderie training ground, hurling flares and firecrackers.