With 22 matches gone, 16 left to play and just three points between the top three, Monaco, Nice and Paris Saint-Germain, we've got a proper title race in Ligue 1. For the first time in a while, the French top flight is having a very special season.
Even the January transfer window has been special. When was the last time France won the award for best transfer dealings? But from PSG (Goncalo Guedes, Julian Draxler), Marseille (Patrice Evra, Dimitri Payet, Morgan Sanson, Gregory Sertic) and Lyon (Memphis Depay) making big moves to some exciting, young players entering the league (Jorge to Monaco, Anwar El Ghazi to Lille), it has been a very good month.
Ligue 1 is attractive again: Big players want to join or come back while all the big clubs have money to spend, thanks to foreign investment (Qatar at PSG, U.S. businessman Frank McCourt at Marseille, Chinese backers at Lyon and Nice with Lille funded by an entrepreneur from Luxembourg), and it's all looking very promising. It guarantees an exciting four months of the season ahead.
Then there is the title race -- and what a title race this is shaping up to be. Monaco snatched a point in Paris in the dying seconds of the game Sunday (1-1) to go back atop the table on goal difference. Nice are still up there, hanging on. They beat Guingamp (3-1) on Sunday for their first win in four league matches. They didn't play well, despite a pretty first goal, but Alassane Pléa and Mario Balotelli scored while Jean Seri's return from the African Nations Cup was also a boost.
Younes Belhanda and Ricardo Perreira are still out injured, a big loss to overcome, but Nice are looking good again after a dip in form at the end of December and a slow start to January. Losing first place in the table at this time of the season is not a bad thing, anyway. It can be easier and less high-pressure to be the chasers instead of the chased. It worked for Leicester in the Premier League last season; the Foxes were behind Arsenal at this stage of the season.
Nice will be more comfortable in letting Monaco sit at the top, though it might not last long. On Sunday, Nice travel to Monaco in another blockbuster clash. So far in January, we have been spoiled for big games: Marseille 4-1 Monaco was first, then Lyon 3-1 Marseille, PSG 1-1 Monaco last week and now this Mediterranean derby between the co-leaders. What a treat.
As with last Sunday's match, it's too early for Monaco vs. Nice to be "like a final," but psychologically, the game could be huge. In the reverse fixture earlier this season, Nice battered Monaco 4-0 with two goals from Balotelli. The visitors had plenty of the ball and some clear chances but were beaten by four goals on four shots on target. You can expect the same sort of scenario this weekend: Monaco have been superb at home all season, apart from a 3-1 defeat vs. Lyon, and Nice will try to use the same tactics.
While they do battle, PSG have the perfect opportunity to make up ground. The Parisians are finally starting to play in Unai Emery's style. Despite the disappointment of dropping two points in injury time against Monaco, there were some positives in their performance. They conceded only one proper chance against the best attack in Europe, they were able to beat the press even without Marco Verratti, Edinson Cavani scored again, and Draxler looked good again.
But they can't take their foot off the gas. Their trip to Dijon is typically the kind of game in which they might be too relaxed and would expect to win without much effort. Yet they will have to fight, be focused and remain intense. Draxler and Guedes are great assets for Emery as the second half of the season heats up, as they can't afford any slip-ups against smaller sides. Then there will be trips to Marseille and Nice as well as a game at home against Lyon.
The "two Olympiques," Lyon and Marseille, will also play a key role in the title race, but they have a proper race among themselves to finish fourth. In the table, it's advantage Lyon, but Marseille's recruitment has been impressive. Payet will bring some much-needed quality, Evra offers leadership and experience, Sertic will bring versatility in midfield, and Samson will bring energy. They still needed a solid centre-half but should be a totally revamped team from now until the end of the season.
Lyon, meanwhile, is gambling on Depay. They need him to quickly get back to his best form, the kind he showed at PSV Eindhoven before his move to Manchester United. Lyon, with a huge game Sunday against Saint Etienne in the Rhone derby, paid a lot of money for him, and they want him to deliver. He isn't the only one.
Ligue 1 is entering the crucial time of the season, and big clubs want their big players, old and new, to make the difference starting now.