A welcome addition to the big time, Clermont were not averse to shocking the big teams in the 2021-22 season, and Pascal Gastien managed to secure another season of Ligue 1 football for his side with a 17th-placed finish.
After taking eight points from their first four games of the season – remaining unbeaten in the process – Clermont unsurprisingly drifted to the lower echelons of the division but still managed to post memorable wins over Lille, Rennes, Marseille and Nice.
Montpellier HSC, Rodez and Toulouse have already fallen to Clermont’s superiority in pre-season friendlies, and Les Lanciers kept clean sheets in all of those battles, but Lens and Grenoble Foot both got the better of Gastien’s side.
Shoring up the defence has clearly been the theme for Gastien this summer, especially as his side conceded at least one goal in each of their last 10 Ligue 1 matches at home, and PSG have already stamped their authority on the French game under Christophe Galtier.
Galtier did not need the early blot of Trophee des Champions failure on his notebook as he seeks to appease the trigger-happy Parisiens board, but the former Lille and Nice boss oversaw a convincing success over Coupe de France winners Nantes during the Super Cup showdown in Israel.
Even with the suspended Kylian Mbappehelplessly watching on, Les Parisiens struck through Neymar (2), Lionel Messiand an audacious Sergio Ramosbackheel – the veteran Spaniard clearly took inspiration from Lionesses hero Alessia Russo.
Winning the Trophee des Champions certainly does not guarantee one’s future in the PSG hotseat, but Galtier and football advisor Luis
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Campos have made some astute young acquisitions this summer, as the 2020-21 Ligue 1 title winner tries to prove that he is here for the long haul.
Defending their Ligue 1 title is Galtier’s prerequisite, but the Frenchman could hardly be under any more pressure to finally deliver success in the Champions League after a multitude of early eliminations, which have often been humiliating in nature.
PSG thrashed Clermont 6-1 at the Stade Gabriel-Montpeid last term and previously ran out 4-0 winners over Les Lanciers at the Parc des Princes, so the hosts’ pre-season defensive resilience may count for nought on the opening day.
