The Daily-Or-So News Dispatch (07.09.19)

By: Sam | September 19th, 2007

The big news on the French football front today was of course Lyon’s slap-in-the-face trip to Barcelona, but let’s not forget the other goings-on around the league, with other clubs gearing up for their UEFA Cup matches tomorrow, Ligue 2’s Week 7, and what Raymond Domenech has to say about Marseille’s chances in the Champions League.

+ Lens had to fight to come up with a draw against the feisty FC Købenvahn at Bollaert today, equalizing in the second half with Aruna Dindane (more on this tomorrow). Tomorrow, the four others (!) will try to muster a better result than the Sang et Or. Bordeaux goes north to see what Tampere United of Finland are made of, while Sochaux will host Panionios of the Greek Super League. Rennes and Toulouse, in a comic coincidence, will battle out with two teams from the same city, CSKA and Lokomotiv. No, not Moscow, but rather Sofia, with the Bretons heading over and the Occitans welcoming.

+ Nantes are still on top of the second division. The Canaris beat Sedan in the late game, 2-1, to reclaim their throne with 16 points from seven matches. Behind them on goal differential are Le Havre, 3-2 victors at Dijon. Third place belongs to Grenoble for the moment, spurred by their 3-1 triumph over Brest on the weekend.

+ Raymond Domenech, hardly one to beat around the bush about his views on domestic football, gave his opinion about OM’s chances in the Champions League this year. Concerned with the power of Liverpool and Porto, he affirmed that “it’ll be very hard to finish in the top two of the group, because it’s a real tough one. Their situation is worrying me.”

+ Good news if you’re a guy like me who loves free and legal internet feeds of any kind of soccer: For the Round of 32 of the Coupe de la Ligue, France Televisions is streaming eight of the sixteen matches live on their websites. Not sure which yet, but I’ll definitely let you know more when the issue progresses.