Ligue 1 – The Italian dynasty of Savoy

The Italian dynasty of Savoy ruled the region of the same name in France from 1416 to 1714. 

This is precisely why the Savoys became the longest-lasting ruling dynasty in Europe. The territory was only annexed to France in 1792 during the First French Republic. As the entire area was ruled by different dynasties and families, football in France changed its rulers. In the mid-1960s, Saint-Étienne was ruthless with four consecutive titles. 

A period of constant change of champions followed, which lasted until the beginning of this century, when Lyon took over. 

The son of President Jean-Michel Aullier enjoyed a string of successes from 2001 to 2008, but a new challenger emerged. 

Paris Saint-Germain had been in huge financial trouble since the late 1990s, which was reflected in a convulsive struggle for survival and frequent changes of coaches.

And then things began to change. 

The Quasimodo of French football was no longer a hunchbacked bell ringer and an object of ridicule, but a cruel, insatiable ruler who could never have enough glamour and luxury. 

The trophies began to roll in, the titles came one after another, and today the Saints secured their third in a row, and their 11th in the last 13 years. They celebrated against Angers 1:0, with a goal from Desiree Due, but that is the least important thing in the whole matter, but the way they do it. Neymar, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappe are no longer there.

 Still, now there is a young and thirsty younger generation led by Luis Enrique, ready to make the Saints dynasty untouchable for everyone else on French soil and to demonstrate this cruelly by not leaving even a crumb to the others.

 The way only great, but also vain, kings do. 

Paris Saint-Germain won the new title with six rounds to go, and six of the previous seven trophies were mathematically in their hands before May. The only two clubs that managed to stand in the way of the Saints were Lille and Monaco, but except for the 2022/23 season, the Saints have finished each season with an eight-point advantage over the others. 

The people are simply unbeatable.

You may not have known, or you may simply not have understood, but Nice has never played in the Champions League since the competition was established in 1992 in its then-new format. 

That fact changed tonight! 

In the final, 34th round of Ligue 1, although with the same number of points as Lille and Strasbourg, Nice entered the final, 34th round of Ligue 1 from pole position due to a better goal difference to stay in fourth place. 

The Eagles were welcomed by a sold-out, red-hot, torch-painted Allianz Riviera, and they knew they would not disappoint them! 

They spread their wings, crushed Brest 6-0, and flew into the third round of the Champions League qualifiers! 

Nice played in the European Champions Cup in the 1956/57 and 1959/60 seasons, were eliminated twice by Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, and from then on, they mostly had to be content with appearances in secondary or tertiary European competitions. 

But from the 30th round, they realized that winning was the only way; they collected points everywhere, took advantage of the lack of interest from Paris Saint-Germain in the championship, and with tonight’s explosion, they prepared the conditions for a place in the European elite. 

Thus, 12 French clubs played before them (Marseille, PSG, Lyon, Monaco, Lille, Bordeaux, Auxerre, Lens, Nantes, Montpellier, Rennes, and Brest), and Nice has a chance to become the thirteenth French club!

Back in May last year, euphoria reigned in and around Saint-Etienne. 

After two years of being in Ligue 2, the giants, one of the biggest clubs in France and a Champions League finalist, returned to where they belong with a victory over Metz. Where they historically belong. Among the elite of French football. 

And it was expected that this would be just a passing leap for Saint-Etienne, that they would put on a show for their fans in the coming seasons. Okay, not exactly competing with PSG for the title, or with Monaco and Olympique de Marseille in the fight for the Champions League. 

But it seemed that the time had come for Saint-Etienne to stabilize. 

All those plans began to fall apart at the beginning of the season. Saint-Etienne struggled, was always close to the danger zone, but with two wins in the last five rounds, they caught their artificial respiration. 

However, the reality hit them in the end, and they will play in Ligue 2 next season.

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