There are six of them. Six teams who should compete in a completely different championship than the one leading to Europe or the title. The maintenance should in fact be played out between Auxerre, Nantes, Angers, St-Etienne, Le Havre and Montpellier. Teams with different dynamics. Taking stock of the forces present before entering the first phase of the Ligue 1 championship.
The Greens, just returned to Ligue 1, knew it: the season will be long and maintaining the only objective to pursue. Despite the takeover of ASSE and some additional resources, the Saint-Etienne club was unable to avoid a sporting crisis at the start of the year associated with injuries which today complicate Olivier Dall'Oglio's task. Stuck in 16th position, the Greens are play-offs before tackling the last 6 matches to complete the first leg of the championship.
Next week, there will be a match that is usually defined as being “6 points”. ASSE will indeed face Montpellier, dead last, and will absolutely have to win in order to relegate a direct competitor to 6 points and give themselves some air compared to the other teams at the bottom of the ranking. It will also be a question of dampening the beginning of the dynamic of the Pailladins who have just won against astonishing Brestois, imperial in the Champions League and in difficulty in the championship.
18 points mid-championship to be within the passing times?
After this face-to-face between poorly ranked players, the Stéphanois will go to Rennes to face Bretons cut out to play in Europe, but who are currently in crisis. Julien Stéphan, just ousted, it is Jorge Sampaoli who will be sitting on the Rennes bench and will quickly want to relieve the Reds and Blacks. In addition to the reception of OM and the trip to PSG, the Greens will face Toulouse (away) and Reims (home). A delicate end to the first leg, during which the Saint-Etienne club will however have to win points. While the maintenance could be played out around 34 points, the ideal would be to obtain 17 or 18 after 17 days. The equivalent of two victories and a draw… We must not give up points along the way…
What about the schedule and dynamics of ASSE’s opponents? First of all Montpellier. The southerners are dead last and their sporting health is not enviable. While Jean-Louis Gasset arrived at the bedside of the MHSC, the pailladin club jumped last weekend by beating Brest and putting an end to a spiral of defeats. However, by facing Lille, Lens, Nice, Lyon and Monaco, Montpellier will only have its confrontation against Angers to hope to score points. Unless the dynamics change, the MHSC seems to be off to a bad start, especially since it will have very few means of strengthening itself in January.
Montpellier on track to leave Ligue 1
Just in front of Montpellier, Le Havre. The oldest club in French football has just been banned from recruiting for money during the next transfer window. Traveling to Nantes next weekend, Le Havre will have to quickly score points. The reception of Angers the following week could also allow Digard's men to get some fresh air. However, if the opposition will be less strong on paper, it will inevitably be filled with tensions, between teams with common objectives. Le Havre will then go to Nice and Marseille and will host Strasbourg and Lens. A schedule which could allow the Normans to exit the red zone, but it will remain difficult.
Angers, tied on points with ASSE, will however learn more about its ability to maintain itself at the end of its next six meetings. Indeed, it will face, during these final matches of the “go” phase, three teams playing to maintain themselves: Auxerre, Le Havre and Montpellier. Angers will thus play a crucial role in the race for survival in Ligue 1. If the Dujeux team does not take off by January, it will become very problematic…
The transfer window, factor X for remaining in Ligue 1?
When it comes to Nantes, things seem different. If the dynamic is incredibly bad, the Canaries nevertheless seem to have sufficient quality to get out of the trouble they have been getting into for several seasons. However, we will have to beat Le Havre next week, as well as Rennes at home… The confrontations in Brest, Paris and Lille, as well as the reception of Monaco will be much more complicated…
Finally, Auxerre, ranked 9th, is not in danger strictly speaking. Their promoted status, however, makes them a natural candidate for retention. With 16 points, however, they seem very well on their way to achieving their goal.
The transfer window, in this context, could be likened to the X factor of this championship for maintenance. In this game, it is ASSE, Auxerre and Nantes who seem to have a head start. The month of January will allow us to see things more clearly, once the phase of “first leg” matches has passed and the winter transfer window is over.
The championship for maintenance
| Ranking | Club | Points | Difference | Dynamic |
| 9 | Auxerre | 16 | 1 | D V N V V |
| 14 | Nantes | 10 | -3 | D N D D D |
| 15 | Angers | 10 | -7 | N N V.V. D |
| 16 | St-Etienne | 10 | -15 | V D D V D |
| 17 | Le Havre | 9 | -15 | D D D V D |
| 18 | Montpellier | 7 | -20 | D D D D V |
