Since around 2004 I’ve been a follower of French Football, all started around the game PES 5 and a very knowlegable person called Sina, quickly picked Lille as my team of choice and for the past 6 years have enjoyed watching some fantastic players come through and make it at some great clubs, Drogba, Benzema, Ribery, Nasri to name a few.
For the 6 years I have watched Ligue 1 I have lived in England, and the general consensus seems if you don”t live in France, why are you watching French Football, this usually comes from people who have never watched a French league game in their life, I’m from the school of: If you don’t watch something don’t comment on it, and don’t take your opinions from something you’ve read. Usually the same people that put the league down are the same people cheering on Sagna, Adebayor, Evra, Benzema, Abidal, obviously forgetting where they came from.
Last nights Europa League game between Lille and Liverpool capped off a great fortnight for French football, Bordeaux travelled to Athens and picked up a great 1-0 win against Olympiakos, then on Wednesday, Lyon went up against the Galacticos of Real Madrid and shocked Europe by dumping Real out of the Champions League, and when Eden Hazards free kick curled past Pepe Reina and put Lille 1-0 up I let out a massive cheer, not just because Lille had scored but also because I could go to work the next day with my head held high knowing Lille and the league itself had stood up and shown their worth.
Now Lille could go to Anfield next week and end up going out of the competition however this will not dampen their image at all.
Liverpool are expected to win, so anything but a home win will be a surprise, Bordeaux should join Lyon in the last 8 of the Champions League, and surely then people might think twice about the quality of the league.
