It is difficult for a team to recover after losing few games in a row so you can imagine how Grenoble players feel after losing 12 straight games. The League Cup defeat to Lorient probably wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for 11 defeats in as many Ligue 1 games this term.

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Liverpool and Inter Milan are in the hunt for highly-rated Gabon central defender Bruno Ecuele Manga.
Manga, 21, plays his club football for Angers in France's Ligue 2. He has scored twice in nine international appearances.
The Reds have suffered three defeats in a row, leading critics to ask questions about the form of long-time defensive lynchpin Jamie Carragher. Click to continue reading...

Jose Mourinho has heaped praise on Rene Krhin amid speculation connecting the Inter Milan midfielder with a move to Liverpool.
The Slovenian teenager is regarded as an exciting prospect for the future and Liverpool are understood to be monitoring his situation at Inter.
However, the Reds are likely to find it difficult to prise him away from Inter as he still figures in the plans of Mourinho. Click to continue reading...

Wenger interested in French midfield starlet.

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Although only 19 years of age and having played only 9 games in Ligue 2 (French Second Division) to defend the colors of the modest Clermont (on loan from Rennes), the young French striker Yacine Brahimi has begun to monopolize a great deal of speculation.

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From guardian.co.uk:

Manchester City are considering a formal link with the French club AC Arles-Avignon, according to the Ligue 2 club's president. Jean-Marc Conrad claims he has met representatives from the Premier League club several times, with a view to agreeing a partnership, and that more talks are set for Thursday.

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As we've been reporting recently on Jeu Du Jour, each of the main contenders for the Ligue 1 title this season have been losing their unbeaten records one by one. Going into last weekend's games, only two were left and one of those, unsurprisingly, was the seemingly unbeatable Bordeaux. Unbeatable, that is, until Saturday when Saint Etienne, of all teams, handed out a 3-1 beating at the Stade Geoffrey-Guichard knocking the French champions off the top spot. Click to continue reading...

Wenger interested in French hotshot.

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Imagine if, using some kind of hi-tech gene-splicing machine, you could create a hybrid of two of Europe's top strikers and vastly different ones at that. We have a theory that this may be what they're upto over in France.

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Guingamp suffered another disappointing defeat last night at the hands of Nimes.

EAG have failed to win in the league since late August and worse still have only managed 1 goal in the 5 games previous to last nights game.

Guingamp enjoyed large spells of dominance over Nimes but the teams inability to score goals means the club travel back home empty handed.

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We're only 24 hours away from a much needed international break. With Lyon's upcoming fixture schedule, the boys will need every opportunity to rest up. Of course, that isn't the case for our international players, but at least the other half of the squad can recuperate from half-healed injuries (I'm looking at you, Lisandro).

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Bizarre!

Le Havre midfielder Kevin Anin claims he still hopes to become a Premier League performer despite snubbing the overtures of Tottenham in the summer.

The Ligue 2 forward had an opportunity to join Spurs on loan after catching the eye of boss Harry Redknapp during a two-day trial.

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Note the day in your diary: Sunday 30th August 2009 – the day Bordeaux's record breaking run of consecutive wins finally came to an end. Not that it saw a change in leader at the top of the Ligue 1 table – Les Girondins' 0-0 draw at Marseille means they remain the team to beat in France.
Bordeaux's run of fourteen back-to-back league wins that started in mid-March 2009 finally ended following a goalless draw at the Stade Velodrome. Click to continue reading...

The 4th matchday of France highest level of club football featured a matchup of the top two teams from last season. Last season's runner-up Olympique Marseille hosted champions Girondins Bordeaux. It was a back and forth affair that ended up in a 0-0 draw at Marseille's Stade Velodrome. Both sides remained unbeaten on the season as Bordeaux stayed on top of the standings. Click to continue reading...

There are mixed reports about whether Bolton Wanderers are about to sign Croatian international Ivan Klasnic from recently relegated Nantes. It is thought that Klasnic has been flown over to sign with The Wanderers today, but whether he will be on loan from the Ligue 2 side or signed permanently for a reported £3m is uncertain.

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A new dawn may have risen on Ligue 1 but there was a definite air of 'as you were' about the opening weekend of fixtures in France.
Reigning champions Bordeaux (how nice it is to say that for a change) picked up from where they left off at the end of last season with a 4-1 drubbing of Lens. Click to continue reading...

Ladies & gentlemen in an attempt to expand Mad About Futbol's reach we are going to start giving you roundups of the France's Ligue 1. France's top league of football is one of the most important in the world and deserves more attention than it currently receives. Therefore, MAF will give you a weekly roundup of Ligue 1 including the scores & standings from the most recent round. Click to continue reading...

Tomorrow marks the start of Lyon's 2009-2010 season. For the first time in a really long time, Lyon will be fighting to earn back the title, as opposed to defending it (maybe this will help the team wake up from their apathy). Tomorrow they'll be facing Le Mans, who are definitely capable of surprises on their good days.

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France's Champions Trophy took place with some success in French Canada a couple of weeks ago, the regular preseason contest between the French league and cup winners held outside France for the first time. Most of the impressive crowd of 34,000+ present in Montreal would have instantly recognised the winners Bordeaux, of course, but their opponents may have been less familiar to fans when they first read about the contest En Avant Guingamp are hardly a household name around the world, after all.

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Les Girondins stock is incredibly high because Laurent Blanc whose footballing IQ must make him the Albert Einstein of the sport has fashioned a team in which "eleven players think the same thing at the same time."

The French Ligue threw up so many surprises last season. Lyon's uninterrupted reign was finally ended and Guingamp won the Coupe De France.

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American shot-stopper Quentin Westberg shutout Nantes as they knocked the Ligue 2 team out of the French League Cup by a lopsided 4-0 scoreline. Click to continue reading...

Some news and such that's far too good to pass up, but not quite enough for an entire post. First, we've all heard of the Church Of Maradona, right? Dedicated to Diego? Altars like the one to our left? But did you know that the church has 10 commandments? [...] Click to continue reading...

Football Club de Metz is a French football team from the town of Metz, in the Lorraine region. Nicknamed Les Grenats, FC Metz currently campaigns in the French Ligue 2. FC Metz has launched its Kappa home and away kits for the 2009/10 season. Here's a look at them along with the 09/10 team picture. Check out [. Click to continue reading...

After losing the race for Filipe Melo to Juventus, Arsenal turned their attention to Blaise Matuidi, or as the French call him, ‘next Makelele'.

The 22-year-old player came to prominence thanks to impressive displays for Saint Etienne and considering that he rejected the offer to extend his contract, which runs out in 2011, Matuidi is likely to join Arsenal very soon.

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Ironicamente, Patrice Evra tem a particularidade de ter 25 irmãos (?!) - apenas 23 ainda estão vivos - e ao mesmo tempo ter nome de anticonceptivo. De resto, o actual lateral esquerdo do Manchester United, internacional pela França, tem uma história curiosa. Nasceu no Senegal há 28 anos e iniciou a sua carreira nas divisões secundárias de Itália, ao serviço dos desconhecidos Monza e Marsala, depois de ter visto o PSG não lhe oferecer contrato de profissional após representar as camadas jovens do clube parisiense como avançado. Click to continue reading...

Goal.com takes an in-depth look at Aly Cissokho, AC Milan's first signing of the summer and the man who has risen from Ligue 2 to Serie A in just over a year... Click to continue reading...

France / Ligue 1
Bordeaux are the new Ligue 1 champions following their 1-0 win over Caen at the weekend. Yoan Gouffran's goal after 49 minutes not only sealed his team's first championship win in ten years but also confirmed Caen's relegation to Ligue 2.
Olympique Marseille went into their final game knowing they could only win Ligue 1 if they beat Stade Rennes and Bordeaux lost to Caen. Click to continue reading...

22-year-old French defender Steven Mouyokolo is finally joining Hull City from Ligue 2 side Boulogne. He was suppossed to come over in January of 09 but remained in France until now. It appears the contract is for four years.
The Frenchman was all smiles and awe when speaking with the club's offical website. Click to continue reading...

Lyon lost their kung-fu grip on the Ligue 1 trophy some ways back and a new champion was always inevitable, but that doesn't make it less of a story. Bordeuax beat Caen 1-0 to take home the title and send their opponents tumbling down to Ligue 2. Their first title in 10 years and the [...] Click to continue reading...

Ladies & Gentlemen, do we have a World Football Team Of The Week for you all. I guarantee that this team deserved the honor & stunned a nation. Remember that the� World Cup Buzz Team Of The Week made headlines and/or played matches during the calendar week of May 4 - May 10. The winner is:

EN AVANT DE GUINGAMP (FRA)
On Saturday, the Ligue 2 side pulled off a historic result by defeating Ligue 1 Rennes in the 2009 Coupe de France final.

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It was a busy weekend for Americans Abroad with Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra scoring goals for their respective clubs. Tim Howard earned another clean sheet while Clint Dempsey and Fulham defeated Brad Friedel and Aston Villa. Maurice Edu played for Rangers in the "Old Firm" as they defeated Celtic, and Zak Whitbread played for Millwall who's in the English League One promotion playoffs.

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Ligue 1 action resumes on Saturday with Carlos Bocanegra and Rennes hosting last season's Ligue 2 champions Le Havre, while Freddy Adu and AS Monaco welcome FC Lorient still without Andrew Jacobson. Click to continue reading...

Just the other day, the LFP published the summer schedule of friendlies for both Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs. Nearly all of them will be busy this summer - Marseille have nine friendlies planned while Bordeaux have a respectable five (fyi, PSG will be playing against Porto in August - fun).

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After everything I've written and speculated, it looks as though the Togo striker may be on his way to either Barcelona or AC Milan for around €27m. And while I've panned nearly all talk as rumors, one has to admit that credibility goes up when they just don't go away. What has me more convinced recently is this article in the Daily Mail.

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March is finally here and we're deep into the heart of the domestic season. Many of you will be happily supporting your team as they bumble along in the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga and so on, but we'd bet the shirts on our backs that you've probably forgotten all about the teams that were relegated last Summer. Click to continue reading...