New Ligue 1 Season Kicks Off Tonight, Featuring Bordeaux Vs Nantes
JAKARTA - The new Ligue 1 season will roll out tonight, Friday, August 21 local time. Bordeaux and Nantes were asked to open the curtain for the highest caste of football in France.
Bordeaux will host Nantes at the Matmut Atlantique Stadium. Launching Antara, the finding of four positive cases of COVID-19 in the Marseille squad made their match against AS Saint-Etienne postponed to next month.
Thus, Bordeaux and Nantes, who finished 12th and 13th respectively last season, have a chance to open the season top of the table if they win three points.
🛬 @ pedrochb97 et les Jaunes sont à Bordeaux! Rendez-vous demain pour #FCGBFCN 💪 pic.twitter.com/MOMFnvFixR
- FC Nantes (@FCNantes) August 20, 2020
Nantes were more active in the transfer market ahead of the season opener after signing midfielders Pedro Chirivella and Jean-Charles Castelletto free of charge from Liverpool and Brest and buying Levante wing Moses Simon.
The presence of Chirivella and Simon may present new attack creations in Christian Gourcuff's camp.
However, it does not mean that Bordeaux, which have not recruited new players in the transfer market, will have difficulty opening the season, considering they still have the mainstays of Nicolas de Preville, Jimmy Briand, Hwang Ui-jo and Yacine Adli in their squad.
The opening week's streak continues with two matches from Saturday night to Sunday morning CET when Dijon hosts Angers and Rennes away at Lille.
Lille manager Christophe Galtier may be preparing to start the season without center-back Gabriel, who is reportedly on a move to London to join Arsenal.
Four other matches will be played on Sunday night WIB, including AS Monaco hosting Reims at the Louis II Stadium which will be the debut stage for Niko Kovac to handle the Les Monegasques camp.
J-3 👉 #ASMSDR pic.twitter.com/Cprr27xDlP
- AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) August 20, 2020
Meanwhile, defending champions Paris Saint-Germain will only play in the second week because their opening match against Metz has been postponed to next month because Le Parisien must appear in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in Lisbon, Portugal, on Sunday, August 23 local time.
The following is the schedule for the opening week of the French League (in WIB, the hosts are named first):
Saturday (22/8) in the morning
00.00 Bordeaux vs Nantes
Saturday (22/8) night to Sunday (23/8) in the morning
22.00 Dijon vs Angers
02.00 Lille vs Rennes
Sunday (23/8) night
18.00 AS Monaco vs Reims
20.00 Lorient vs Strasbourg
8pm Nimes vs Brest
22.00 OGC Nice vs RC Lens
Postponed match Wednesday (16/9) in the morning
02.00 Montpellier vs Olympique Lyon
Postponed match Thursday (17/9) in the morning
02.00 Paris Saint-Germain vs Metz
Postponed match Friday (18/9) in the morning
02.00 Marseille vs AS Saint-Etienne
💥⚽️ @MauroIcardi pic.twitter.com/Llb449NCAQ
- Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) August 20, 2020