The coronation of Montpellier Herault was not the only surprise of this season. Playing in their first ever Ligue 1 campaign, Evian TG showed true grit and ended the season in a strong position for a team that is still relatively new to French football
After 38 weeks of football, French football saw the emergence of Montpellier Herault as the latest addition to the list of Ligue 1 champions.
Throughout the campaign, Montpellier Herault seemed to be the only side that had what it took to defy Paris Saint-Germain who despite spending so much money to win the Championelle, finished second. The final two weeks of the campaign sealed the fate of
both sides and in the end, it was Rene Girard’s men who came out victorious.
Luck’s always involved and plays a heavy part in victory and defeat but this Montpellier side defied all odds by beating a team to the title whose single player (http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Javier-Pastore-c18082) cost them more than the champion’s annual budget.
However, Montpellier’s crowning moment was not the only highlight of the campaign. The Championnat was filled with a lot of twists and turns and odd surprise results were always on the cards.
Evian TG
Les Croix were established in 2007 and were basically a merger of two clubs, Thonon and Gaillard FC. Not many people expected the club to rise so rapidly from an amateur side to rubbing shoulders with the big boys in Ligue 1.
As soon as they won their promotion, many expected the Thonon-Gaillard-based side to return straight back to Ligue 2 football and even touted the club to be mired in obscurity soon.
Instead, Evian TG showed the well-established sides in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 that they are here to stay.
Their first month in the Championnat was not really a promising one but just one defeat meant that Evian could hope for good things to come. When they held Paris Saint-Germain to a 2-2 draw in Week 6, it turned out to be just a good day for the side as defeats
at the hands of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-de-Marseille-c40127 and SM Caen followed.
October came and things did not improve as Le Croix won just one game in that month. However, the newly-promoted side were proving to be the bane of the Ligue 1 heavyweights especially after holding on to then-reigning champions, LOSC Lille.
A win over Lorient next turned out to be exactly what they needed as Evian started winning games every now and then. In the last game of 2011, Evian TG produced perhaps one of their best performances of the season when they beat Ligue 1 contenders Montpellier
Herault 4-2 at home.
The new year did not start that well for them and it wasn’t until February that Evian won their first Ligue 1 game of 2012 (2-0 win over Nancy).
With confidence restored, Pablo Correa’s side kept returned to their best and apart from a few defeats which went on unnoticed, the roses arrived at the top half of the table.
Making the champions wait
In Week 35 of the Championnat, Evian TG were to have their say on when the title would be won when they faced league leaders Montpellier Herault. A win against the minnows at the Mosson would have taken Rene Girard’s side a step closer to winning the Championelle
earlier than expected.
However, in an ill-tempered affair, Correa’s side held La Paillade to a 2-2 draw. The game also saw Younes Belhanda receive his marching orders for violent conduct.
The following week saw Evian beat Ajaccio 2-1. That was to be their last win of the campaign as one draw and two defeats followed. However, Les Croix had done enough to finish their first-ever campaign in Ligue 1 on 9th place which is something
not many newly-promoted clubs can boast about.
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