2007–08 Ligue 1
# 2007–08 Ligue 1

The 2007–08 Ligue 1 season was the seventieth since its establishment, and started in August 2007 and ended on 17 May 2008. The fixtures were announced in June 2007. Lyon became French champions, having won a record seventh consecutive title.

## Participating teams

### Promotion and relegation

Lens, Strasbourg and Metz were relegated to Ligue 2. The three relegated teams will be replaced by the three promoted teams from Ligue 2. Le Havre were promoted as Ligue 2 champions along with Nantes, who finished in second place, and third-placed Grenoble.

### Stadia

| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity | Avg. attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Auxerre | Auxerre | Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps | 24,493 | 9,613 |
| Bordeaux | Bordeaux | Stade Chaban-Delmas | 34,327 | 24,689 |
| Caen | Caen | Stade Michel d'Ornano | 21,500 | 19,526 |
| Le Mans | Le Mans | Stade Léon-Bollée | 17,500 | 10,589 |
| Lens | Lens | Stade Félix-Bollaert | 41,233 | 33,717 |
| Lille | Villeneuve d'Ascq | Stade Lille-Metropole | 21,803 | 17,553 |
| Lorient | Lorient | Stade du Moustoir | 16,669 | 12,101 |
| Lyon | Lyon | Stade Gerland | 43,051 | 36,968 |
| Marseille | Marseille | Stade Vélodrome | 60,031 | 52,009 |
| Metz | Metz | Stade Municipal Saint-Symphorien | 26,671 | 13,401 |
| Monaco | Fontvieille | Stade Louis II | 18,500 | 10,570 |
| Nancy | Tomblaine | Stade Marcel Picot | 20,087 | 18,591 |
| Nice | Nice | Stade du Ray | 17,415 | 10,947 |
| Paris Saint-Germain | Paris | Parc des Princes | 46,480 | 36,440 |
| Rennes | Rennes | Stade de la Route de Lorient | 31,127 | 25,515 |
| Saint-Étienne | Saint-Étienne | Stade Geoffroy-Guichard | 35,616 | 28,016 |
| Sochaux | Montbéliard | Stade Auguste Bonal | 20,025 | 15,189 |
| Strasbourg | Strasbourg | Stade de la Meinau | 29,230 | 19,135 |
| Toulouse | Toulouse | Stade de Toulouse | 35,472 | 18,634 |
| Valenciennes | Valenciennes | Stade Nungesser | 16,547 | 13,712 |

### Managers

| Club | Head coach |
| - | - |
| Auxerre | Jean Fernandez |
| Bordeaux | Laurent Blanc |
| Caen | Franck Dumas |
| Le Mans | Rudi Garcia |
| Lens | Guy Roux, then replaced in August by Jean-Pierre Papin |
| Lille OSC | Claude Puel |
| Lorient | Christian Gourcuff |
| Lyon | Alain Perrin |
| Marseille | Albert Emon, then replaced in September by Eric Gerets |
| Metz | Francis De Taddeo, then replaced in December by Yvon Pouliquen |
| Monaco | Ricardo Gomes |
| Nancy | Pablo Correa |
| Nice | Frédéric Antonetti |
| Paris Saint-Germain | Paul Le Guen |
| Rennes | Pierre Dréossi, then replaced in December by Guy Lacombe |
| Saint-Étienne | Laurent Roussey |
| Sochaux | Frédéric Hantz, then replaced in January by Francis Gillot |
| Strasbourg | Jean-Marc Furlan |
| Toulouse | Elie Baup |
| Valenciennes | Antoine Kombouaré |

### Kits

| Team | Kit maker | Shirt sponsor |
| - | - | - |
| Auxerre | Airness | Prest-Oil |
| Bordeaux | Puma | Kia, Pichet and Cdiscount |
| Caen | Nike | GDE Recyclage and Campagne de France |
| Le Mans | Kappa | Loué and Le Gaulois |
| Lens | Nike | Atac and Invicta |
| Lille | Airness | Groupe Partouche |
| Lorient | Erreà | Biscuits La trinitaine |
| Lyon | Umbro | Ticket Restaurant and Novotel |
| Marseille | Adidas | Neuf, Groupama and Quick |
| Metz | Kappa | Nàsuba-express |
| Monaco | Puma | Fedcom |
| Nancy | Baliston | Odalys-Vacances, Geodis-Calberson, Regina-delipapier and Triangle-Interim |
| Nice | Lotto | CitySport, Takara and Pizzorno |
| Paris Saint-Germain | Nike | Emirates Airline |
| Rennes | Puma | Samsic and Blot immobilier |
| Saint-Étienne | Adidas | Konica Minolta |
| Sochaux | Lotto | Mobil 1 |
| Strasbourg | Hummel | France Pare-Brise, Es -Électricité Strasbourg and Groupama |
| Toulouse | Lotto | Idec Groupe, Newrest and Iss-world |
| Valenciennes | Diadora | Toyota and Sita-Suez |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Lyon (C) | 38 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 74 | 37 | +37 | 79 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Bordeaux | 38 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 65 | 38 | +27 | 75 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Marseille | 38 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 58 | 45 | +13 | 62 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Nancy | 38 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 44 | 30 | +14 | 60 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Saint-Étienne | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 47 | 34 | +13 | 58 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Rennes | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 47 | 44 | +3 | 58 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup third round |
| 7 | Lille | 38 | 13 | 18 | 7 | 45 | 32 | +13 | 57 | |
| 8 | Nice | 38 | 13 | 16 | 9 | 35 | 30 | +5 | 55 | |
| 9 | Le Mans | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 46 | 49 | −3 | 53 | |
| 10 | Lorient | 38 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 32 | 35 | −3 | 52 | |
| 11 | Caen | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 48 | 53 | −5 | 51 | |
| 12 | Monaco | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 47 | |
| 13 | Valenciennes | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 42 | 40 | +2 | 45 | |
| 14 | Sochaux | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 34 | 43 | −9 | 44 | |
| 15 | Auxerre | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 33 | 52 | −19 | 44 | |
| 16 | Paris Saint-Germain | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 37 | 45 | −8 | 43 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 17 | Toulouse | 38 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 36 | 42 | −6 | 42 | |
| 18 | Lens (R) | 38 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 43 | 52 | −9 | 40 | Relegation to Ligue 2 |
| 19 | Strasbourg (R) | 38 | 9 | 8 | 21 | 34 | 55 | −21 | 35 | Relegation to Ligue 2 |
| 20 | Metz (R) | 38 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 28 | 64 | −36 | 24 | Relegation to Ligue 2 |

* ↑ Paris Saint-Germain was qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup as winners of the 2007–08 Coupe de la Ligue.
* ↑ Metz have been deducted one point by the Discipline Commission and been ordered to play one match behind closed doors as a result of the racist insults inflicted by one of their fans on the Valenciennes player Abdeslam Ouaddou. However, the decision of the point deduction was taken on 27 March 2008.

## Results

| Home \ Away | AUX | BOR | CAE | MFC | RCL | LIL | LOR | OL | OM | MET | ASM | NAL | NIC | PSG | REN | STE | SOC | RCS | TFC | VAL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Auxerre | | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 5–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Bordeaux | 4–1 | | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–3 | 2–1 |
| Caen | 0–0 | 5–0 | | 3–2 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Le Mans | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Lens | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Lille | 0–2 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 3–0 |
| Lorient | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| Lyon | 2–0 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 |
| Marseille | 2–1 | 1–2 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 1–2 | 3–1 |
| Metz | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–5 | 1–2 | | 1–4 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 |
| Monaco | 3–0 | 0–6 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 2–0 | | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 |
| Nancy | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Nice | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Paris SG | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Rennes | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Saint-Étienne | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Sochaux | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Strasbourg | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Toulouse | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | | 2–1 |
| Valenciennes | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | |

* ↑ Match was played at the Stade de France

## Stats

### Top goalscorers

Karim Benzema wins the Trophée du Meilleur Buteur.

Last updated 17 May 2008

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Karim Benzema | Lyon | 20 |
| 2 | Mamadou Niang | Marseille | 18 |
| 3 | Bafétimbi Gomis | Saint-Étienne | 16 |
| 3 | Djibril Cissé | Marseille | 16 |
| 5 | Fernando Cavenaghi | Bordeaux | 15 |
| 6 | Bakari Koné | Nice | 14 |
| 6 | Rafik Saïfi | Lorient | 14 |
| 8 | Steve Savidan | Valenciennes | 13 |
| 8 | Túlio de Melo | Le Mans | 13 |
| 10 | Mickaël Pagis | Rennes | 12 |

## Attacking Play table

Ligue 1 has introduced an Attacking Play Table since the start of the 2006–07 Ligue 1 season to encourage more goal-scoring in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), with the help of the former France national team manager Michel Hidalgo, introduced the idea to reward those teams who score the most goals. Independent from the official league table, points are awarded as follows:

| Outcome | Point(s) |
| - | - |
| Loss | 0 |
| Draw | 1 |
| Victory by one goal | 2 |
| Victory by multiple goals | 3 |

The sum of 20 million Euros, taken from the LFP's new commercial ventures in 2006/2007 will be dedicated to this initiative. €16.7 million will go to Ligue 1. Prize money is distributed to the teams at the end of the season depending on where they finish in the table.

Last updated 17 May 2008

| Pos | Club | Pld | W | W1 | W2 | D | L | GD | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Lyon | 38 | 24 | 9 | 15 | 7 | 7 | +37 | 70 |
| 2 | Bordeaux | 38 | 22 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 7 | +27 | 63 |
| 3 | Saint-Étienne | 38 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 12 | +13 | 54 |
| 4 | Nancy | 38 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 8 | +14 | 53 |
| 5 | Marseille | 38 | 17 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | +13 | 52 |
| 6 | Rennes | 38 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 12 | +3 | 52 |
| 7 | Lille | 38 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 18 | 7 | +13 | 50 |
| 8 | Nice | 38 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 16 | 9 | +5 | 46 |
| 9 | Le Mans | 38 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 13 | -3 | 44 |
| 10 | Valenciennes | 38 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 17 | +2 | 43 |
| 11 | Caen | 38 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 13 | -1 | 43 |
| 12 | Monaco | 38 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 17 | -8 | 43 |
| 13 | Lorient | 38 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 16 | 10 | -3 | 42 |
| 14 | Auxerre | 38 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 18 | -19 | 38 |
| 15 | Paris Saint-Germain | 38 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 15 | -8 | 37 |
| 16 | Sochaux | 38 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 14 | -9 | 37 |
| 17 | Toulouse | 38 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 14 | -6 | 36 |
| 18 | Lens | 38 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 16 | -9 | 35 |
| 19 | Strasbourg | 38 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 21 | -21 | 32 |
| 20 | Metz | 38 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 24 | -36 | 19 |

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; W1 = Wins by one goal; W2 = Wins by more than one goal; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

## Player of the Month

| Month | Player | Club |
| - | - | - |
| August | David Bellion | Bordeaux |
| September | Jérôme Rothen | Paris Saint-Germain |
| October | Jérôme Leroy | Rennes |
| November | Sébastien Puygrenier | Nancy |
| December | Mamadou Niang | Marseille |
| January | Karim Benzema | Lyon |
| February | Steve Mandanda | Marseille |
| March | Kader Keïta | Lyon |
| April | Karim Benzema | Lyon |

## Awards

### Player of the Year

The nominees for Ligue 1 Player of the Year. The winner will be displayed in bold.

| Player | Nationality | Club |
| - | - | - |
| Karim Benzema | France | Lyon |
| Mamadou Niang | Senegal | Marseille |
| Jérémy Toulalan | France | Lyon |
| Wendel | Brazil | Bordeaux |

### Young Player of the Year

The nominees for the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year. The winner will be displayed in bold.

| Player | Nationality | Club |
| - | - | - |
| Yohan Cabaye | France | Lille |
| Hatem Ben Arfa | France | Lyon |
| Miralem Pjanić | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Metz |

### Team of the Year

| GK | Steve Mandanda | Marseille |
| - | - | - |
| RB | Laurent Bonnart | Marseille |
| CB | Sébastien Puygrenier | Nancy |
| CB | Hilton | Lens |
| LB | Taye Taiwo | Marseille |
| RM | Mathieu Valbuena | Marseille |
| CM | Jérémy Toulalan | Lyon |
| CM | Benoît Cheyrou | Marseille |
| LM | Wendel | Bordeaux |
| ST | Mamadou Niang | Marseille |
| ST | Karim Benzema | Lyon |

Coach: Laurent Blanc – Bordeaux

