French Football Weekly

It's been a busy week as the 2019/20 season hits the business end(TM) - Kris, Jez and Phil review PSG's last-minute comeback against Atalanta, Lyon progressing against Juventus, and the Coupe de France Feminine final, where OL beat PSG on penalties after an unexpected goalless draw. In the Champions' League, Lyon will play Manchester City on Saturday, and we nervously consider how that could pan out, as well as discussing PSG's chances against their yet-to-be-confirmed opponent (Atletico Madrid or RB Leipzig). In the women's game, both OL and PSG will be off to Bilbao for the final stages of the WCL, to face Bayern Munich and Arsenal respectively.

The French football season is over, as PSG beat Lyon on penalties in the last ever Coupe de la Ligue final. Kris, Jez and Phil are here to look at that, Lyon's upcoming game against Juventus, the transfer market, COVID, and more besides.

We're back! Ligue 1 may have died a death in March, but we've just had the Coupe de France final, and are awaiting the Coupe de la Ligue Final on Friday and the Portugal-based 'lads on tour' Champions League thingy in August. Thus, Kris, Jez and Phil get the band back together to round up what the hell has been happening. Features promotions, relegations, transfers, stats, Loic Perrin and occasional friendlies.

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. Kris, Rich and Phil round up PSG's win over Dortmund in the Champions' League, the Ligue 1 action last weekend, the Ligue 1 action we hope will happen this weekend, and how the burgeoning global pandemic may affect football more generally. Stay safe everyone.

Kris, Jez, Phil and Rich round up PSG's 5-1 win over a ten-man Lyon, the Rhone derby, Rayan Cherki, why Rich doesn't like Mark Hughes and whether Alan Curbishley will ever manage in Ligue 1.

Kris, Rich and Phil are here to talk Lyon, after their impressive win over Juventus in the Champions League and with some tricky matches on the way. The gang also look back at the weekend's results, and some red cards that will be important in upcoming games, a brief look at the Ligue 2 standings, and what's coming up next week.

PSG have had a hell of a week, from a 6-1 hammering of Dijon in the Coupe de France, through a chaotic 4-4 draw in the Ligue to 19th placed Amiens, to a 2-1 defeat by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League knock-out stages. Kris, Jez and Phil are here to look at what happened, how, why, by whom and wherever. They also round up the weekend's Ligue results as Saint Etienne continue to suffer and Nimes have something approaching a bounce, and look forward to a slightly underwhelming next round of fixtures.

Amidst a confusing midweek round, Kris, Jez, Rich and Phil try to keep up with what's going on after PSG won 5-0 against Montpellier, Mbappe threw a strop, Nimes are playing well, and a Depay-less Lyon have had trouble. Rich sings Camavinga's praises in our new French Football Futures section, and Jez has hope for Metz.

We're back! After an extended winter break, Kris, Phil, Rich and Jez are joined by Coupe correspondent John Mainland to look back at the post-Christmas action, including many cupsets in the Coupe de France, one of which happens as we are recording. Along with the Ligue 1 positions and Coupe de la Ligue, we will be starting our series 'French Football Future' in the coming weeks, so if there are any players you are anxious to hear about, let us know in the comments or on Twitter.

It's party time - except in Ligue 1 where there were only 15 goals in the last round of games - so Kris and Phil are here to round up all the action, the Coupe de la Ligue (ongoing), the Champion's League draw, and look particularly at Lyon and Monaco as 2019 draws to a close.

There were 35 goals over the weekend, and Kris, Jez and Phil are here to try to keep up. We've also seen a bunch of cupsets in the Coupe de France, and some serious handbags in the Champions' League.

We're ten games into Ligue 1 and three games into the European competitions, so Kris, Jez and Phil are here to cover all the action, including Garcia's awkward start at Lyon, Angel di Maria, late goals, WCL success, and more.

Kris, Jez, Phil and Rich look back on the international break which saw France beat Iceland and draw against Turkey, and an increasingly confusing set of managerial changes. Also features Kris levering mentions of Lorient in Ligue 2 and tactical choices for Arsenal.

After nine games, Ligue 1 goes on hold for an(other) international break - Kris, Rich and Phil look back over a confusing set of results, a number of managerial changes, a worrying set of fashion choices from les Bleus, and much much more. (Apologies for the abrupt cut-off at the end, slight technical issues)

Eight games in to Ligue 1 and after two games of the Champions League, Kris, Rich and Phil get together to discuss Dijon's first win, Monaco's revival, the European games, and more.

After a short international break, Kris, Phil, Jez and Rich round up what's happened in games 6 and 7, which leaves PSG and Angers equal on points at the top of the table. Saint-Etienne are in a bit of bother which leaves them in the bottom three, and Lyon are not in great shakes either.

Four games in, and Kris, Phil, Jez and Rich are here to look at the last round of games, the transfer window, the European draws, the upcoming international break and France selection, and Phil gets a bit sweary explaining why the League's move against homophobia does look to be largely like using gay people as an alibi for their ongoing oppression of football fans.

Kris, Rich and Phil are back to look back over game 3 of Ligue 1 and associated admin. Nice were bought, Monaco had a second-half collapse, PSG suffered key injuries, and Lyon lost away at Montpellier while we were recording so apologies for the squeaking in the background.

Game 2 of Ligue 1 saw some unexpected and exciting results, as PSG lost to Rennes, Lyon hit six past Angers, Metz saw off Monaco who look in a world of trouble, and Marseille continued to underwhelm with a goalless draw at Nantes. Kris, Jez, Rich and Phil round up all the results, what are the various problems for various teams, how the situation is at Nice, and what's good to watch out for at the weekend.

The 2019/20 season is upon us, and Phil, Jez and Rich are back to cover game 1, the transfer market, where exactly Neymar is right now, and many other things.

The last round of Ligue 1 matches saw Dijon take the play-off spot, with Caen going down after a 1-0 home loss to Bordeaux. Kris, Jez, Phil and Rich look back at that and pick out their team of the season. The U20 World Cup is on, and the Women's World Cup is coming up, so we will be covering both over the summer now the league is out of the way.

Most things got sorted out in the last round, as Lille hammered Angers, and OL and ASSE both won, to sew up third and fourth spots and the European places for next season. However, there's still some stuff to sort out at the other end, so Kris, Phil, Jez and Rich are here to round that up, the recent UNFP awards, and the recent France squad announcement from Didier Deschamps.

On Saturday, Rennes won the Coupe de France for the third time, their first since 1971, beating PSG on penalties after a 2-2 draw that saw them come from 2-0 down. Rich is purring as he, Kris and Phil look back at a highly enjoyable cup final, the implications for Europe, the rest of the Ligue 1 action, and PSG's continuing wibbles. Elsewhere, OL are through to the Women's Champions' League final after beating Chelsea 3-2 on aggregate, where they will face Barcelona who beat Bayern in their semi.

PSG secure the title! Because Lille had a goalless draw at Toulouse, which meant they did that before even kicking off against Monaco. So the Kylian Mbappe hat-trick at the Parc de Princes on Sunday seemed a little underwhelming. Kris, Phil and Jez try to put all this into perspective, look at the race for Europe, the relegation battle, Lyon in the WCL, and other things.

Phil, Jez and Conor have a look at PSG's increasingly desperate attempts to sew up the Ligue 1 title that has looked nailed on since August, as the Parisians draw with bogey team Strasbourg, get hammered by Lille, and lose away at Nantes. We also cover Prince Gouano's response to racist chanting away at Dijon. the race for third, the amble for fifth, and various other issues.

After the international break, Kris, Jez and Phil look back over France's comprehensive wins in their first two Euro qualifiers against Moldova and Iceland, as well as the Women's Champions League and upcoming Coupe de la Ligue final and Ligue 1 fixtures.

France are out of Europe, after PSG's capitulation against Manchester United is followed by Barcelona beating Lyon 5-1 and Arsenal overturning Rennes' first-leg lead with a 3-0 home win. The gang's all here to discuss that, and the Classique which saw PSG beating OM 3-1 in a game that saw Steve Mandanda sent off, banjaxing OM's chances. Kris, Jez, Phil and Rich cover all that, the relegation fight, various fan protests, the latest on Adrien Rabiot, and the France squad for the upcoming Euro qualifiers against Moldova and Iceland, as well as any other business.

After a week of European competition that was both the best and worst of times, Kris, Jez and Phil look back at PSG's capitulation against Manchester United, Rennes' great result against Arsenal, and the weekend's results in Ligue 1 - and also forwards to Lyon's trip to Barcelona.

European competition is back and while PSG take a 2-0 lead back to the Parc de Princes against an injury-hit Manchester United, the Europa League sees Rennes play Arsenal - this pits Kris against Rich, with Jez and Phil chipping in on the other stuff.

After some surprising results in Ligue 1, miscellaneous bitching about the January transfer window, and a French casualty in the Premier League, Kris, Jez and Phil round up all the happenings and try to remember that the Coupe de France has reached the quarter-final stage. At least no Ligue 1 goalkeepers have gone rogue since we last spoke.

After Lyon's battling goalless draw against Barcelona, Kris Jez and Phil look back at that, game 25, some catch-up games, and Rennes in the Europa League.

After a tricky week, featuring a frustrating Coupe de France game against third-tier opposition, a lengthening injury list, and being behind at the bookies, PSG still managed to dazzle at Old Trafford as they beat Manchester United 2-0 in the Champions League. Kris, Jez and Phil break down how the hell that happened, and many other things.

After a confusing round of what was mostly game 23 of Ligue 1, we also have cup games and catch-ups in the schedule that are messing with the system. Also messing with the system were Lyon, who did one of their big game performances to inflict PSG's first league loss of the season, winning 2-1.

As Ligue 1 pans through game 22, Kris, Jez and Phil round up all the action as OM struggle at home to Lille, Lille continue to be good, Monaco continue to be confusing as they bin Thierry Henry for the guy they binned earlier in the season, Guingamp are still dead last but in both cups, etc etc.

We're back, and so is French football! Phil, Jez and Rich have a look at how things stand at the midway-ish point (some December games yet to play) after 2019 opened with a cracking round of Coupe de France fixtures including 10 (ten) upsets. These including Angers being knocked out by sixth-tier regional team Viry-Chatillon, Gazelec Ajaccio ditto by Noisy-le-Grand, and the one you may have heard about, OM falling 2-0 to National side Andrezieux. The team also rounds up the Coupe de le Ligue quarter-finals and their favourite transfer rumours.

Issues in France mean that there were only four matches played last weekend (the remaining matches scheduled for mid-January) and there's a number of postponements for the next weekend. Kris, Jez and Phil do their best to round that up, while focussing on PSG and OL in the Champions League.

A lot has happened since we last spoke, including game 5 of the European group stages, game 15 of Ligue 1, half or so of game 16 (we recorded during those) and the Ballon d'Or. Kris, Jez and Phil try not to get off-topic in covering all that, Ada Hegerberg's Ballon d'Or win, and looking forward to a Gilets Jaunes affected game 17, which will see both PSG v Montpellier and Toulouse v OL postponed at police request.

A quick turnaround at FFW Towers as Kris is joined by Phil and Conor to discuss the weekend's Ligue 1 action, and preview the upcoming European games, in which it's fair to say that things aren't going swimmingly for any of the French teams.

After an international break, Kris, Phil, Conor and Jez round up how France have finished 2018, and look forward to the next round of Ligue 1, including OL v Saint-Etienne on Friday.

A limited team this week as Phil and Conor Ketley round up the Ligue 1 results, the European fixtures, and the Coupe de la Ligue. They focus on Montpellier 3 - 0 Marseille and Monaco's ongoing tailspin, before looking at games to watch at the weekend. Go Nimes.

The team gets together to round up all the results in Ligue 1 and Europe, but mostly focus on Le Classique, where PSG won 2-0 away at Marseille. Kris, Jez, Rich and Phil discuss defense, discipline, form and focus as the Coupe de la Ligue kicks off around them.

The FFW Towers bug continues (sorry about the coughing) but doesn't stop Kris, Phil, Jez and Rich from rounding up the results in Ligue 1, Thierry Henry's poor but explicable start at Monaco, Montpellier in the sunshine, Lille's changing approach, whether Ligue 1 is worth watching, the European competitions, and much else.

There's a bug going around FFW Towers, but this won't stop us rounding up France's matches against Iceland and Germany, Thierry Henry taking over at Monaco, and the matches to look out for as Ligue 1 comes back for round 10. Plus, Deschamps' pyro birthday cake for his 50th, a Charles Aznavour tribute at Armenia v Gibraltar, and a Ligue 2 round-up.

A duet this week as Phil and Jez mull over the French teams' performances in Europe, what's happened in Ligue 1, who's passing to each other at PSG, and what exactly Monaco think they're doing considering firing Leonardo Jardim.

There's been three games in Ligue 1 since we last podded, so there's a lot for Rich and Conor to explain to Phil as she's been on holiday for the whole time and hasn't seen a kick of football. Lille and Saint-Etienne are both doing well, and Monaco seem finally to be struggling with their habit of selling key players every summer. We also have the second round of the European competitions which see Lyon drawing 2-2 with Shakhtar Donetsk as we record, followed by PSG v Crvena Zvezda and the potentially awkward-to-watch Borussia Dortmund v Monaco on Wednesday in the Champions League. Then, onto the Europa League, where time-zone issues mean that you can watch all three French teams in sequence, starting with FC Astana v Rennes, then Bordeaux v Copenhagen, and finishing with a must-win game for OM away at Apollon Limassol.

Europe incoming! Kris is joined by Rich, Phil and Conor to round up a fairly chaotic round of games in Ligue 1 and look forward to six French teams going into European action. OM get ready to play behind closed doors, PSG have new shirts for their trip to Liverpool, and Lyon might be rightly nervous about what will happen at the Etihad - we are getting in the biscuits in for three fun days in the opening round.

It's a full-house as Kris, Jez, Rich and Phil get together to review France's performances in UEFA's reasonably-successful-so-far attempt to make people take friendlies seriously. These included an impressive debut for Alphonse Areola, a goal for Olivier Giroud, a still wonky first-choice formation, and a lot of post-match celebrations as the World Cup was presented to the home crowd at the Stade de France.

As the transfer window slams shut(TM), Kris, Jez and Phil try to work out who's where and how the traditional big four - PSG, OL, OM and Monaco - have done this summer. Have they strengthened their squads, made necessary replacements, or just trod water? Phil's been at a wedding and hasn't seen any games, Jez forgets to mute his microphone when answering the front door, and Kris tries to hold everything together.

Four teams have two wins in Ligue 1 so far - including both of the promoted teams, as Nimes and Reims make it clear that they aren't just here to make up the numbers. Kris, Jez and Phil look back at an interesting weekend that saw PSG continuing to play the kids, OL being stymied, Marseille struggling against les Crocos, and Bordeaux losing while having a fairly significant manager issue.

After a short break, the team's back together! Still giddy from France's World Cup win, Kris, Rich, Phil and Jez mostly ignore the title 'race' to talk through who could make it to Europe, and which teams could be in trouble. They discuss the transfer market so far, bitch about TV coverage, and answer your questions along the way.