First division. Two teams above the rest, dominating and entangled in battle for the title. No hopeless outsider. French football was hot, no doubt, but it was not just a talented generation of players – perhaps the new crop of coaches was more important: Roux (Auxerre), Jacquet (Bordeaux), Le Milinaire (Laval), Houiller (Lens), Wenger (Nancy), Suaudeau (Nantes).
Racing (Paris) finished last with 26 points. Just came back from obscurity and dropped right away to second level. The ambitious project was not yet blooming.
Tours – 19th with 29 points and out. Front row from left: Fonseca, Kaiser , Diecket, Furlan, Loiseau, Zdun, Krimau, Polaniok.
Middle row: Besnard, Jublot, Desrousseaux, Gressani, Varady, Morabito, Thénier, Dobraje, Briet, coach, masseur.
Top row: Levève, De Zerbi, Lorenzo, Devillechabrolle, Coiffier, Colleu, ?.
Rouen – 18th with 29 points and relegated.
Marseille – 17th with 31 points. Barely escaped relegation, which was pretty much the goal for the moment. Reemerging after a crisis is never easy.
Starsbourg – 16th with 31 points. Like Marseille, trying only to stay afloat. Hard to believe they were champions not so long ago.
OSC Lille – 15th with 31 points.
Bastia – 14th with 32 points.
Paris Saint Germain – 13th with 33 points. Perhaps Paris SG was seen as eternal losers by now, but a team made of Baratelli, Rocheteau, Janvion, Bathenay, Susic, Jeannol, Couriol, and Toko should not have been performing so bad. On the other hand… may be that was why Paris SG was so low: the great names were getting too old, their peak was almost 10 years ago.
Nancy – 12th with 34 points. Modest team as ever, but playing as best as they could and not giving up.
Toulouse – 11th with 35 points. Like Nancy, historically speaking, but with bigger ambitions presently – Bergeroo, Domergue, Stopyra looked like a good cluster and the addition of the Argentine World champion Tarantini suggested continuous development, but it was still building process in an early stage.
Laval – 10th with 36 points. Not bad for a squad without single recognizable name in it.
Brest – 9th with 36 points. Le Guen was at the beginning of his career, practically unknown – like many small clubs, Brest had to do without stars. But they managed.
Sochaux – 8th with 38 points. Their strong years were seemingly over – back to midtable.
Lens – 7th with 40 points.
Toulon – 6th with 44 points. Strong season, but unlikely to be repeated. The great Argentine scoring machine Delio Onnis still delivered.
Metz – 5th with 45 points. Unassuming club, hardly ever attracting attention, but performing well.
Auxerre – 4th with 47 points. By now it was clear that Auxerre was accidental one-time wonder – rapidly they joined the leading teams and seemingly were going to do only better. Loyal to its “Polish connection”, characteristic of their rise from obscurity to glory – Szarmach and Janas, currently. Bats and Ferreri in the French national team, Vahirua not far behind, B. Boli only a promising youngster at the moment, Cantona in the junior team, not old enough yet for the first squad. Home made boys and Polish imports – that was the secret.
Monaco – 3rd with 48 points. Strong period, leading club, but not a title contender this season. Not to be dismissed, though – if not the championship, then there was something else.
Nantes and Bordeaux dominated the championship, fighting for the title. It was just right – those were the leading clubs at the time. Nantes, however, was in a leading position for a third decade already – the most consistently strong French club. Bordeaux climbed to true leading position only recently, but it was hotter team. Eventually, they prevailed.
Consistently strong does not automatically mean consistently great. The squad captained by Henri Michel in the 70s was perhaps better than the current one, but it was overshadowed by St. Etienne. This vintage was overshadowed by Bordeaux. Second best… and they finished 2nd this season with 56 points.
Bordaux not only prevailed, but even built 3-point cushion by the end of the season. 25 wins, 9 ties, 4 losses, 70-27 goal-difference, 59 points and the title was theirs. Rightly so, given the squad they had: Lacombe, Giresse, Tigana, Battiston were the great stars at the moment – not just in France, but in the world. Add the Poruguese midfielder Chalana. Girard and Tusseau were not far behind, already members of the French national team. Dropsy and the former West German star Dieter Muller may be were yesterday news, but not to be dismissed yet. Rohr and Specht were hardly anonymous players too. Coached by Aime Jacquet. Compared to the squad of 10 years ago… well, back then the team had a few stars, but only Giresse remained from the old days and 10 years ago he was unknown. The club moved a long way up since 1976 and won its 3rd title. Second in a row too, for this team won it in the previous season. Wonderful success.