Is the summer ending already? It feels like the 2014 2015 football season only just wrapped up, but in several divisions-including the English Premier League and the French Ligue 1-the 2015 2016 campaign is already underway. The Ligue 1 started with a bang on Friday, August 17th, with a win for Paris Saint Germain over Lille, and continued throughout the weekend. Now, all 20 teams in the league have played their first games, and we're going to take a few minutes to analyze the outcomes of the 2015 - 2016 Ligue 1 Week One weekend-and what they might mean for the season to come.
Positive Beginnings
Eight Ligue 1 soccer squads managed season-starting wins over the weekend, including top 2014 2015 finishers like Paris Saint Germain and Monaco. The Parisians are actually outside of the top five at the moment, after only picking up a modest 1-0 win in their away match at Lille.
Then again, PSG had to sideline arguably their two best players for the season opener. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the football club's top scorer in each of the last three seasons, is currently on the bench getting over a knee injury. Angel Di Maria, meanwhile-the attacking midfielder that PSG paid a reported £44Â million to sign from Manchester United-will have to wait for another game to make his debut: Di Maria is currently getting over a thigh muscle strain that he suffered during this year's Copa America.
With Paris Saint German somewhat handicapped by the lack of their stars, other French soccer squads had a chance to steal the spotlight on opening weekend. Monaco, fresh off a third-place finish in 2014 2015, started their season with a 2-1 away win against Nice. The home team looked to have the upper hand for a while, taking the lead at the seven-minute mark and holding Monaco scoreless throughout the first 45 minutes of play. But two goals in the second half gave the lead back to Monaco, and ultimately earned them a victory.
The biggest winner of week one, though, was Angers SCO. The football club was promoted up from Ligue 2 after finishing third last season, and made a stellar Ligue 1 debut with a 2-0 win against Montpellier. The win makes the league newcomers the only squad on the table with a +2 goal difference, and while their lead may be short-lived, that's still about the most perfect opening weekend outcome that the team could have hoped for.
Early Disappointments
While PSG and Monaco kicked off the 2015 2016 season in style, the other three teams that finished in the top five last season-Lyon, Marseille, and Saint Etienne-all had to weather disappointing starts.
Lyon, despite finishing second last season (and coming within 10 points of PSG), couldn't muster much of anything against Lorient, and ultimately settled for a scoreless draw. Lorient ended the 2014 2015 campaign in 16th place, just a few slots shy of the red zone.
Things were worse for Olympique Marseille and Saint Etienne, as both soccer squads picked up losses in their week one fixtures. Marseille had the home field advantage, but still lost 0-1 to Caen (13th place, 2014 2015). Saint Etienne at least managed a goal-courtesy of captain and longtime team 
veteran Loic Perrin-but still lost 2-1 to Toulouse (17th place, 2014 2015).
Add a loss for 2014 2015 sixth-placers Bordeaux (in a 1-2 home game against Reims), and week one of the 2015 2016 Ligue 1 wasn't exactly a great showcase for the division's top teams. On the contrary, most of the biggest stories of the weekend involved upsets.
In all likelihood, those upsets probably won't end up meaning anything in the long run. Things will inevitably heat up for PSG once Ibrahimovic and Di Maria get a chance to take the pitch together, and it's possible that Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, and Saint Etienne just need to shake off some rust.
Get ready for the rest of the Ligue 1 season! We have the Monaco shirt 2015 2016, a PSG jersey, and a slew of other French club merchandise available at the Soccer Box online store!
