2018–19 Ligue 2
# 2018–19 Ligue 2

The 2018–19 Ligue 2 (referred to as the Domino's Ligue 2 for sponsorship reasons) season was the 80th season since its establishment.

## Teams

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| AC Ajaccio | Ajaccio | Stade François Coty | 10,446 |
| Auxerre | Auxerre | Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps | 21,379 |
| Béziers | Béziers | Stade de la Méditerranée | 18,555 |
| Brest | Brest | Stade Francis-Le Blé | 15,097 |
| Châteauroux | Châteauroux | Stade Gaston Petit | 17,173 |
| Clermont Foot | Clermont-Ferrand | Stade Gabriel Montpied | 11,980 |
| Gazélec Ajaccio | Ajaccio | Stade Ange Casanova | 8,000 |
| Grenoble | Grenoble | Stade des Alpes | 20,068 |
| Le Havre | Le Havre | Stade Océane | 25,178 |
| Lens | Lens | Stade Bollaert-Delelis | 37,705 |
| Lorient | Lorient | Stade du Moustoir | 18,890 |
| Metz | Metz | Stade Saint-Symphorien | 25,636 |
| Nancy | Tomblaine | Stade Marcel Picot | 20,087 |
| Niort | Niort | Stade René Gaillard | 10,886 |
| Orléans | Orléans | Stade de la Source | 7,000 |
| Paris FC | Paris (13th arrondissement) | Stade Charléty | 20,000 |
| Red Star | Paris (Saint-Ouen) | Stade Pierre Brisson | 10,198 |
| Sochaux | Montbéliard | Stade Auguste Bonal | 20,005 |
| Troyes | Troyes | Stade de l'Aube | 20,420 |
| Valenciennes | Valenciennes | Stade du Hainaut | 25,172 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | $Manager^1$ | $Captain^1$ | Kit $manufacturer^1$ | Main $sponsor^1$ |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| AC Ajaccio | Olivier Pantaloni | Johan Cavalli | Adidas | Auchan Atrium |
| Auxerre | Cédric Daury | Jordan Adéoti | Macron | Remorques LOUALT |
| Béziers | Mathieu Chabert | Macedo Novaes | Puma | Angelotti |
| Brest | Jean-Marc Furlan | Gaëtan Belaud | Nike | Quéguiner (H), Yaourts Malo (A) |
| Châteauroux | Nicolas Usaï | Yannick M'Bone | Nike | Monin |
| Clermont | Pascal Gastien | Julien Laporte | Patrick | Crédit Mutuel |
| Gazélec Ajaccio | Hervé Della Maggiore | TBD | Macron | Carrefour, Casino D'Ajaccio |
| Grenoble | Philippe Hinschberger | Selim Bengriba | Nike | Carrefour, Sempa, BONTAZ |
| Le Havre | Oswald Tanchot | Alexandre Bonnet | Joma | Filiassur, SEAFRIGO Group |
| Lens | Philippe Montanier | Walid Mesloub | Macron | Auchan Retail |
| Lorient | Mickaël Landreau | Fabien Lemoine | Kappa | B&B Hotels, Jean Floc'h |
| Metz | Frédéric Antonetti | Renaud Cohade | Nike | Moselle |
| Nancy | Alain Perrin | Danilson da Cruz | Nike | Sempa |
| Niort | Pascal Plancque | Andé Dona Ndoh | Erima | Restaurant Le Billon (H), Cheminées Poujoulat (A) |
| Orléans | Didier Ollé-Nicolle | Karim Ziani | Kappa | CTVL |
| Paris FC | Mehmed Baždarević | Frédéric Bong | Nike | Vinci |
| Red Star | Vincent Doukantié | Formose Mendy | Adidas | Vice |
| Sochaux | Omar Daf | Maxence Prévot | Lotto | Ledus |
| Troyes | Rui Almeida | Benjamin Nivet | Kappa | Babeau Seguin |
| Valenciennes | Réginald Ray | Sébastien Roudet | Acerbis | Mutuelle Just |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Sochaux | Peter Zeidler | Signed by FC St. Gallen | 14 May 2018 | Pre-season | José Manuel Aira | 22 May 2018 |
| Metz | Frédéric Hantz | Resigned | 20 May 2018 | Pre-season | Frédéric Antonetti | 24 May 2018 |
| Lens | Éric Sikora | Sacked | 18 May 2018 | Pre-season | Philippe Montanier | 22 May 2018 |
| Troyes | Jean-Louis Garcia | Mutual consent | 22 May 2018 | Pre-season | Rui Almeida | 30 May 2018 |
| Paris FC | Fabien Mercadal | Signed by Caen | 8 June 2018 | Pre-season | Mehmed Baždarević | 15 June 2018 |
| Grenoble | Olivier Guégan | Sacked | 22 June 2018 | Pre-season | Philippe Hinschberger | 22 June 2018 |
| Gazélec Ajaccio | Albert Cartier | Sacked | 9 October 2018 | 12th | Hervé Della Maggiore | 15 October 2018 |
| Châteauroux | Jean-Luc Vasseur | Sacked | 9 October 2018 | 16th | Nicolas Usaï | 24 October 2018 |
| Nancy | Didier Tholot | Sacked | 27 October 2018 | 20th | Alain Perrin | 27 October 2018 |
| Red Star | Régis Brouard | Sacked | 29 October 2018 | 19th | Faruk Hadžibegić | 29 October 2018 |
| Sochaux | José Manuel Aira | Sacked | 25 November 2018 | 18th | Omar Daf | 25 November 2018 |
| Niort | Patrice Lair | Suspended | 17 December 2018 | 7th | Jean-Philippe Faure (caretaker) | 11 December 2018 |
| Niort | Jean-Philippe Faure (caretaker) | End of caretaker role | 14 January 2019 | 8th | Pascal Plancque | 14 January 2019 |
| Auxerre | Pablo Correa | Sacked | 18 March 2019 | 14th | Cédric Daury (interim) | 18 March 2019 |
| Red Star | Faruk Hadžibegić | Mutual consent | 24 March 2019 | 20th | Vincent Doukantié (interim) | 24 March 2019 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or Relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Metz (C, P) | 38 | 24 | 9 | 5 | 60 | 23 | +37 | 81 | Promotion to Ligue 1 |
| 2 | Brest (P) | 38 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 64 | 35 | +29 | 74 | Promotion to Ligue 1 |
| 3 | Troyes | 38 | 21 | 8 | 9 | 51 | 28 | +23 | 71 | Qualification to promotion play-offs semi-final |
| 4 | Paris FC | 38 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 36 | 22 | +14 | 65 | Qualification to promotion play-offs quarter-final |
| 5 | Lens | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 49 | 28 | +21 | 63 | Qualification to promotion play-offs quarter-final |
| 6 | Lorient | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 51 | 41 | +10 | 63 | |
| 7 | Le Havre | 38 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 45 | 40 | +5 | 54 | |
| 8 | Orléans | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 51 | 53 | −2 | 52 | |
| 9 | Grenoble | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 43 | 47 | −4 | 50 | |
| 10 | Clermont | 38 | 11 | 15 | 12 | 44 | 37 | +7 | 48 | |
| 11 | Châteauroux | 38 | 11 | 15 | 12 | 37 | 42 | −5 | 48 | |
| 12 | Niort | 38 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 34 | 41 | −7 | 47 | |
| 13 | Valenciennes | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 52 | 61 | −9 | 43 | |
| 14 | Nancy | 38 | 12 | 6 | 20 | 36 | 50 | −14 | 42 | |
| 15 | Auxerre | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 34 | 36 | −2 | 41 | |
| 16 | Sochaux | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 27 | 43 | −16 | 41 | |
| 17 | Ajaccio | 38 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 29 | 45 | −16 | 40 | |
| 18 | Gazélec Ajaccio (R) | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 30 | 54 | −24 | 39 | Qualification to relegation play-offs |
| 19 | Béziers (R) | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 33 | 50 | −17 | 38 | Relegation to Championnat National |
| 20 | Red Star (R) | 38 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 28 | 58 | −30 | 30 | Relegation to Championnat National |

## Results

| Home \ Away | ACA | GAZ | AUX | BEZ | BRE | CHA | CLE | GRE | HAV | RCL | LOR | MET | NAL | NRT | ORL | PAR | RS | SOC | TRO | VAL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ajaccio | — | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3–1 |
| Gazélec Ajaccio | 1–0 | — | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Auxerre | 0–0 | 2–3 | — | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Béziers | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Brest | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | — | 5–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–5 |
| Châteauroux | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | — | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 |
| Clermont | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 0–1 |
| Grenoble | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 4–2 |
| Le Havre | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 4–3 |
| Lens | 1–2 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 5–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Lorient | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | — | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 3–1 |
| Metz | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | — | 3–0 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Nancy | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Niort | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Orléans | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 4–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Paris FC | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Red Star | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 0–1 | — | 3–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 |
| Sochaux | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Troyes | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | 4–2 |
| Valenciennes | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 5–6 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | — |

## Promotion play-offs

A promotion play-off competition was held at the end of the season, involving the 3rd, 4th and 5th-placed teams in 2018–19 Ligue 2, and the 18th-placed team in 2018–19 Ligue 1.

The quarter-final was played on 21 May and the semi-final was played on 24 May.

| Quarter-final | Quarter-final | Quarter-final | Semi-final | Semi-final | Semi-final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | | | 3B | Troyes | 1 | | | | | |
| | | | 5B | Lens (a.e.t.) | 2 | | | | | |
| 4B | Paris FC | 1 (4) | 5B | Lens (a.e.t.) | 2 | | | | | |
| 5B | Lens (p) | 1 (5) | | | | | | | | |
| 5B | Lens (p) | 1 (5) | | | | 3B | Lens | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| | | | | | | 18A | Dijon | 1 | 3 | 4 |

## Relegation play-offs

A relegation play-off was held at the end of the season between the 18th-placed Ligue 2 team and the 3rd-placed team of 2018–19 Championnat National. This was played over two legs on 28 May and 2 June.

Le Mans won 3–2 on aggregate and were promoted to Ligue 2, while Gazélec Ajaccio were relegated to the Championnat National.

## Post-season actions and reprieves

On 12 June 2019, the financial regulator of French football, the DNCG announced that Nancy and Sochaux would be relegated to Championnat National due to their financial position. The decision is appealable, and both teams have indicated that they are appealing. Should one or more of the decisions be upheld at appeal, then Gazélec Ajaccio and Béziers would be reprieved from relegation in that order.

On 25 June 2019, the DNCG announced that AC Ajaccio would also be relegated to Championnat National due to their financial position. The club have indicated they are appealing. If this decision is upheld at appeal in addition to those of Nancy and Sochaux, then Red Star would also be reprieved from relegation.

On 3 July 2019, Nancy successfully appealed the DNCG decision, and will remain in Ligue 2.

On 8 July 2019, it was announced that Sochaux had successfully appealed the DNCG decision, and will remain in Ligue 2.

On 12 July 2019, it was announced that AC Ajaccio would remain in Ligue 2, having been successful in their appeal.

## Top scorers

    As of 17 May 2019

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Gaëtan Charbonnier | Brest | 27 |
| 2 | Habib Diallo | Metz | 26 |
| 3 | Pierre-Yves Hamel | Lorient | 19 |
| 4 | Florian Ayé | Clermont | 18 |
| 5 | Yannick Gomis | Lens | 16 |
| 6 | Alexis Claude-Maurice | Lorient | 14 |
| 6 | Yoann Touzghar | Troyes | 14 |
| 8 | Romain Armand | Gazélec Ajaccio | 13 |
| 8 | Andé Dona Ndoh | Niort | 13 |
| 10 | Florian Sotoca | Grenoble | 12 |
| 10 | Kévin Fortuné | Lens (1) and Troyes (11) | 12 |
