Champions League preview: Deschamps' lucky escape and Taiwo's career advice

The Champions of France take on the Champions of England tonight, exciting times.

Despite their recent upturn in form, you'd have to say that Marseille turning over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge is about as likely as Ed Milliband discovering some charisma, but coach Didier Deschamps has got a plan:

"We need to close the space down and impose ourselves physically. These kind of games are settled in the finer details and let us hope it is settled in our favour," he told the BBC, while also dropping the bombshell that he turned down the chance to speak to Liverpool in the summer about their managerial vacancy. Sensible chap.

Meanwhile OM left back Taye Taiwo has revealed the dedication it takes to make it as a pro: "My mum and dad didn’t want me to be a footballer and they were always saying: ‘Taiwo, you better go to school today!’ and I said: ‘Mum, Dad I love football so I’ll go to school another day!" A valuable lesson for youngsters everywhere there.

Auxerre have a chance to put their miserable league form behind them when Real Madrid visit the Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps. Despite their star-studded forward line, Real have struggled for goals a bit this season, and Jose Mourinho could hand a start to French international Karim Benzema in place of Gonzalo Higuain. Benzema or not, I fancy Jean Fernandez's men to get an unlikely draw. You heard it here first. Maybe.

Then tomorrow Lyon will be looking for three points when they travel to Hapoel Tel-Aviv. Any result other than a victory is likely to tighten the noose around Claude Puel's neck, and I think they should be capable of repeating their 1-0 win over Schalke on match day one.

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Ligue 1 goals of the weekend

3) Taye Taiwo, Marseille v Sochaux, Sunday September 26

He probably didn't mean it, but it was a spectacular strike none the less.

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/marseille-sochaux-6985705/ (20 seconds in)

2) Nene, Lens v Paris St Germain, Sunday September 26
"I've never been happier" announced the easily pleased Brazilian after scoring this cheeky chip. Nice goal though.

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/nene-lens-6998762/

1) Dimitri Payet, Lyon v St Etienne, Saturday September 25

Prior to this season, Payet had never scored more than four goals in a season. This free kick takes his tally for the season to seven, and he'll probably never score a more important one as far as the ASSE fans are concerned.

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/dmitri-payet-lyon-6985927/

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Ligue 1 round-up, September 27

The world is a strange place.

As I type this, my local radio station are doing an interview with a woman who has just won a contest to find the dog owner who looks most like their pet. What makes the story even weirder is that the winner is not, as you might imagine, a complete loony, but a fully qualified doctor. The mind boggles.

Anyway, Claude Puel continues to wear a hang-dog expression after his Lyon side's latest defeat. They went down 1-0 to St Etienne in a closely contested Rhone derby which was settled by a superb 74th minute free kick from that man Dimitri Payet. And with Marcello Lippi and Paul Le Guen reportedly sniffing around and wanting to cock their legs up his managerial lamp-post, it seems unlikely Puel's mood will improve any time soon.

The dog days could be over for St Etienne however, who remain top of the league following the victory, their first derby win in 16 years. And if the goals continue to flow from Payet, a first Ligue 1 title since 1981 could be a distinct possibility.

Rennes are up to second after a 2-1 win over Nice, with Stephane Dalmat and Victor Montano on target. That position had previously been held by Toulouse, but they were only able to draw with Lille, Antoine Devaux's goal 15 minutes from time earning them a share of the spoils.

PSG are currently going about their business in the kind of quiet, efficient manner which you wouldn't usually associate with the capital club. They were 2-0 victors over Lens on Sunday, with a calamitous own goal from Yohan Dalmont setting them on their way to three points. Brazilian Nene added a second at the death to move Antoine Kombouare's men up to fifth in the table, and the Parisiens will be hoping their miserly defence, which has now kept four consecutive clean sheets, will continue in such mean fashion.

Elsewhere, Marseille beat Souchaux 2-1, and bottom club Arles suffered another defeat, 3-1 against Montpellier. A new manager will be in place soon at the Parc des Sports according to club president Marcel Salerno, and whoever he is I wish him the best of luck.

Results
Saturday September 25: Auxerre 2-2 Nancy, Caen 0-0 Bordeaux, Lorient 2-1 Monaco, Lyon 0-1 St Etienne, Marseille 2-1 Sochaux, Montpellier 3-1 Arles, Nice 1-2 Rennes.
Sunday September 26: Brest 1-0 Valenciennes, Lens 0-2 Paris SG, Toulouse 1-1 Lille.

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Ligue 1 round-up, September 20

A new week, a new blog, and new leaders of Ligue 1, with St Etienne having taken over top spot thanks to a 3-0 win over Montpellier.

Dimitri Payet has been in prolific form so far this season, and took his total to six goals in six games with a well-taken brace. Sandwiched between Payet's double like a particularly tasty piece of salami, Emmanuel Riviere's fine header confirmed Les Verts' dominance. Former leaders Toulouse, meanwhile, were drawing 0-0 with Monaco in a match which won't live long in the memory.

If St Etienne and Toulouse have both started the season like a train, Lyon have begun like one of those ropey old rail replacement buses that trundle between provincial stations at a snail's pace every Sunday. Bordeaux, themselves not in great shape, inflicted more pain on Claude Puel's charges by beating them 2-0 on Sunday. Alou Diarra headed in Jaroslav Plasil's free kick to open the scoring, before Jussie wrapped up the victory in stoppage time with a cool finish. Not a happy return then for Yohan Gourcuff, who left Bordeaux for Lyon in the summer and was roundly booed by the home crowd.

Champions Marseille are beginning to find some form at last, and hammered bottom club Arles 3-0, with Andre Ayew scoring twice. In fairness Emile Heskey would probably find some form if he came up against Arles, who remain bottom without a point to their name. The other big winners of the weekend were Souchaux, who remain fifth after thumping Nice 4-0.

Like Arles, second from bottom Auxerre remain winless, but looked set to claim their fifth draw in six games against Lille before Moussa Sow's late goal gave the home side victory, lifting them to sixth in the table.

Results

Sunday September 19: Bordeaux 2-0 Lyon, Lille 1-0 Auxerre, Paris SG 0-0 Rennes
Saturday September 18: Arles 0-3 Marseille, Lorient 0-1 Caen, Monaco 0-0 Toulouse, Nancy 0-2 Brest, Sochaux 4-0 Nice, St Etienne 3-0 Montpellier, Valenciennes 1-1 Lens.

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Er, hello world

Hello folks, and welcome to my new blog about French football. With a bit of luck this page will soon be filled with interesting, humourous, topical articles about all aspects of football en France. Feel free to comment as you see fit, or follow me on Twitter for a myriad of wonderful details on my life.

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