MONACO — AS Monaco secured a sedate 1-0 win over Aston Villa in the UEFA Champions League to move to 13 points in the league phase, and very likely ensure that France has at least three clubs in the knockout phase of Europe’s top tier competition. Wilfried Singo scored the only goal of the game with a header inside the opening 10 minutes at Stade Louis II and Les Monegasques were able to weather the pressure that Unai Emery’s English Premier League side attempted to apply for the remaining 80 minutes.
Monaco’s success is not only a big boost for their UCL campaign, which had slowed down of late after an extremely fast start, but it is also a massive deal for French soccer which now boasts Lille OSC and Stade Brestois 29 as well as ASM on the verge of the top 24. Paris Saint-Germain can still join them with games against Manchester City and VfB Stuttgart to come, and few would totally rule LOSC or Brest out from getting results this midweek in their respective games against Liverpool and Shakhtar Donetsk.
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France’s surprisingly strong league phase showing has certainly been one of the more unexpected stories from the league phase so far and Ligue 1’s chances of having a quartet representing Le Championnat next season have been boosted by some heroic efforts from Brest, Monaco and Lille. The principality outfit have put the likes of Barcelona to the sword as well as Villa while Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have both fallen victim of LOSC and Brest have more than held their own against the likes of Bayer Leverkusen and PSV Eindhoven.
Underrated in the strong positioning of at least three of the four French sides, there is a very real possibility that at least one of the Ligue 1 representatives finishing in the top eight to guarantee a round of 16 berth without the need for the playoffs. To have one or more of the four potential French sides assured of being at that stage makes the league phase a big success as far as Le Championnat’s involvement is concerned and would earn some much-needed respect given Ligue 1’s financial problems in recent years.
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Monaco’s win over Villa might not have been the most exciting of games, nor the best advert for France’s convincing uptick in continental form, but it is a hugely needed dose of positivity confirmed more or less with a game to spare. Depending on what happens for Lille, Brest and PSG now, Ligue 1 can look forward to knockout phase representation as well as a potential full quota of clubs which would be a historic achievement for Europe’s fifth of its top five leagues.
Monaco, Lille and Brest might also have safeguarded French soccer against PSG’s possible exit at the hands of City or Stuttgart, but if there is one team capable of salvaging their slow start it is Luis Enrique’s men who regularly outplay their opponents without beating them. We might be some way off France being feared on the continental scene but there is no doubt that considerable respect is being earned at present and long may that continue for the good of Ligue 1 and one of Europe’s more underrated club powers.
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