The list is getting longer and longer. After Saint-Étienne, Bordeaux, Guingamp, Lille, Monaco, Nantes, Stade Rennes and Strasbourg, it is now Toulouse who have won a trophy under the QSI era before Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais.
For more than a decade, the two supposed locomotives of French football behind the untouchable Paris Saint-Germain have been disappointing. And Toulouse’s success in the Coupe de France accentuates this feeling.
Since the takeover of the capital club in 2011, OL and OM have often hidden behind the enormous means at their disposal to explain the dust that is beginning to invade their trophy cabinets: it would simply be impossible to compete with the stars of Camp des Loges and hope to win a cup. But over the years and the cracks of the Parisian project, it is clear that even David can triumph over Goliath in France.
No, the Paris Saint-Germain of Mbappé, Messi and Neymar are not invincible and with a bit of goodwill and a sensible plan, you can definitely win a title in this particular era of French football. Jean-Michel Aulas has often railed against the powerful Parisians, but several small Gallic villages resist again and again, and have proven for a decade that PSG can falter.
Via @ThePopFoot pic.twitter.com/ttuKVSHdsK
And this year of the Coupe de France ridicules the Marseillais and the Lyonnais even more. While they were in a good position to get the Old Lady, the two clubs collapsed incomprehensibly. Difficult to decide between the worst elimination: OM who beat PSG in the round of 16 before being knocked out at home by Annecy, 16th in Ligue 2, or OL who made a non-match at La Beaujoire against Nantes in great danger this season in Ligue 1.
Winner of the competition after a masterful final and a wide 5-1 success over FC Nantes, the TFC has had an extraordinary trajectory for three years. Last in Ligue 1 at the end of the season stopped by the Covid in March 2020, it has changed in size, and in particular in ownership. The Southwest club was bought by an American investment fund and its management team relied on data to perfect its new project. From the antechamber of the elite to its return to the fore, Toulouse has regained its colors and even won a trophy 66 years after its last success: a nice snub at the two Olympics.
OL and OM are at a crossroads at the end of the 2022-2023 season. Olympique Lyonnais is now owned by American businessman John Textor, who has promised big moves for this summer. For France to rediscover its colors on the European scene and preserve its UEFA index, a dominant Lyon is essential. However, after having terrorized Ligue 1 in the 2000s, OL put their claws away for a long time… By multiplying casting errors among players, coaches and also their staff, Jean-Michel Aulas, of whom we praised the management so much, has been adrift for quite a while.
On the OM side, even if he were to not win the championship, we will not have shunned our pleasure this season in terms of the game. Igor Tudor offers intense football which is certainly energy-intensive, but which knew how to win over the demanding Marseille public. Since his arrival at the head of OM a little over two years ago, Pablo Longoria has been able to lay a solid foundation. On the other hand, next season must be concretized with a trophy which the Marseillais have been missing since 2011 and the victory of the Champions Trophy, when Didier Deschamps was still on the bench: an eternity!
