2024 Ligue 1 Roundup: PSG Win Third Straight Title
Brest Qualify for UCL for First Time in History
Mbappe Leaves Ligue 1 With Strong Legacy
In 2023-24, Paris Saint-Germain won their third straight title, and first under Luis Enrique. It was never really in doubt, as PSG lost just two games all season, and Kylian Mbappe was the league’s top scorer for a sixth straight season. Mbappe is expected to leave the club this Summer and leaves a strong legacy. While PSG were a big story, Brest also managed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history and Lyon had an incredible second half of the campaign. We’ll take a comprehensive look at the French top flight in our 2024 Ligue 1 Roundup.
PSG Title Never in Doubt
PSG took a bit of time to get going this season in Luis Enrique’s first season as head coach. Once they did, the Parisians never looked back as they pulled off a 26 game unbeaten run on their Ligue 1 schedule from mid September 2023 to mid May 2024. In the process, Paris Saint-Germain became the first team with an unbeaten away record in Ligue 1 history.
Enrique’s side went 13-4-0 away from the Parc des Princes en route to a record 12th Ligue 1 title. Kylian Mbappe scored a league-leading 27 goals in his final season with the club. Mbappe will leave the club, and likely go to Real Madrid, as PSG’s all-time leading scorer, with 256 goals in all competitions. He won Ligue 1 six times in seven seasons at PSG.
Warren Zaire-Emery emerged as a key figure in midfield despite being just 18 years old. In the post-Mbappe era, fellow midfielder Vitinha could also be one of the leaders for Enrique, who had nothing but praise for the Portuguese international. In goal, Gianluigi Donnarumma managed to keep clean sheets in 40 percent of his matches.
PSG also managed to win a domestic double, as they defeated Lyon 2-1 in the Coupe de France Final.
Intriguing European Race
While PSG wrapped the title up quite early, the European race was fascinating this season. Our 2024 Ligue 1 Roundup notes that Monaco (2nd) and Brest (3rd) were the other automatic Champions League qualifiers. Monaco won their final three games of the season and Wissam Ben Yedder had another fine scoring display, with 16 goals this campaign. Brest, on the other hand, finished in 14th place in 2022-23. Expectations were low heading into 2023-24, but Eric Roy had his squad firing on all cylinders.
Romain Del Castillo was joint-leader in Ligue 1 in assists, with eight, and Pierre Lees-Melou and Bradley Locko were other standouts for the Bretons. Brest had never previously qualified for European football and had never finished above eighth in Ligue 1.
Lille’s fourth place finish was their highest since winning the league in 2020-21. Les Dogues will play in Champions League Qualifiers next season with an opportunity to make the Group Stage.
Nice (5th) were PSG’s biggest challengers for some time but their form drastically tailed off unlike Lyon’s (6th). Lyon won just one of their 14 games to start the season and were in the relegation zone as recently as February.
However, no team gained more points than Lyon since December and they made huge strides under Pierre Sage. They won six of their last seven matches and sealed Europa League football on the final day of the season. Alexandre Lacazette scored 19 goals, which was joint-second in the league.
Lens (7th) will be playing in the UEFA Europa Conference League next season, while Marseille (8th) and Reims (8th) just missed out.
Relegation Battle Down to Final Day
The bottom half of the Ligue 1 table had a number of teams who were closer to a European spot than to the relegation zone. Rennes (10th), Toulouse (11th) and Montpellier (12th) were competitive teams that were never seriously threatened by the prospect of the drop.
Patrick Vieira managed to guide Strasbourg to 13th place in his first season with the club as they finished 10 points outside of the relegation zone. Nantes (14th) won just two of their final 11 matches but managed to stay afloat once again.
Le Havre (15th) were one of the newly promoted teams and they were thrilled to survive the drop. They lost just three of their first 13 matches but their form dropped off a cliff towards the end of the campaign.
Metz (16th) were the other newly promoted side and they still have a chance to remain in Ligue 1. They’ll take on Ligue 2 Play-off winners Saint-Etienne in a two-legged tie where the winner will play in Ligue 1 next season.
Lorient (17th) miraculously won 5-0 on the final day of the season but it wasn’t enough to avoid the drop, as they lost a tiebreaker to Metz. Clermont finished in 18th place, last in the league, with just 25 points and they’ll be playing in Ligue 2 next season.
Ligue 1 Awards
Unsurprisingly, Kylian Mbappe won a fifth straight Ligue 1 Player of the Year. Mbappe has won the award more times than any other player in the history of the league. He finished first on the Ligue 1 top scorers list as well to snag the Golden Boot.
Mbappe’s teammates, Warren Zaire-Emery and Gianluigi Donnarumma, won the Young Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year awards, respectively. Only four PSG players logged more minutes than Zaire-Emery, who is calm beyond his years in midfield. He and Vitinha could be PSG’s key midfielders for years to come.
Donnarumma may not be the best keeper in the world with his feet but there are very few showstoppers better than the Italian. His current contract runs until 2026 and it’s been reported that the Parisians want to extend his deal.
Eric Roy won Ligue 1’s Manager of the Year award for taking Brest from 14th place to third. Even without a single player who reached ten goals this season, Roy managed to guide his team to the Champions League. Brest conceded the third-fewest goals in the league and went 17-10-7 in Ligue 1.
Sneak Peek at 2024-25
Our 2024 Ligue 1 Roundup wouldn’t be complete without a quick rundown of next season’s outrights. PSG are currently -400 favorites to win a fourth straight title, while no other side shows +1000 odds or shorter. Monaco (+1100) and Marseille (+1400) are two dark horse picks.
