Ligue 1 resumes: a four-speed championship

Four floors between Paris Saint-Germain's €900 million annual budget and Angers SC's €25 million: the competition is a sham. Guided tour, level by level.

While riding high on its European championship title , the Parisian club demonstrated its genius for spicing up the soup. In three stages. First, tired of seeing the club (president, coach, some players) campaigning for his teammate Ousmane Dembélé, Achraf Hakimi – against whom a rape trial has been requested – spoke on Canal + to say that he deserved the Golden Ball. Then, the importation into the locker room of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict with the arrival of Illya Zabarnyi in a group where the Russian Matvei Safonov is clinging to his contract. Finally, the tumultuous dismissal of the Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma .

In tears at the signing of his contract with AS Monaco in July ("thank you for the trust"), Paul Pogba is back on the pitch, three years after his last match appearance. Well, he's not expected back until November. But the symbolic, memorial, sentimental, and even sporting significance, since there's no guarantee of a pleasant surprise, is worth every detour. A chandelier by eclipses, which also concerns Marseille, Rennes, Nice, and even Lille.

Unable to buy talent, they have to make the players they have work differently: by bringing in Portuguese player Luís Castro, the man behind last season's Dunkirk miracle, FC Nantes has chosen the back roads rather than a proven coach. At this mid-level, many (Toulouse, Brest, Lens) have made this choice in recent seasons. And they haven't fared any worse for it.

Between 9 and 11 million euros in wage bills: objectively, maintaining SCO Angers would be a superior performance to Olympique de Marseille directly qualifying for the Champions League. The same would apply to FC Metz, Le Havre AC, or FC Lorient.