The year 2025 ended without the honorary title of Ligue 1 autumn champion being awarded. This will be done at the end of the 17e day, which will close the first phase of the French football championship, which resumes, Friday January 2 at 8:45 p.m., with the meeting between Toulouse and the current leader, RC Lens.
The Sang et Or spent the end-of-year holidays at the top of the ranking, which they have held since their success in Angers (2-1) on November 30, and thanks to a series of six consecutive victories. Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), who will face Paris FC on Sunday at 8:45 p.m., in the first derby between the two teams since the 1978-1979 season, are second at one point.
This leadership position, far from being “anecdotal”East “a beautiful thing for all the people of the region”estimated Pierre Sage, the Lensois coach, after his team’s victory against Nice (2-0) on December 14. The former coach of Olympique Lyonnais (OL), arrived in Artois last summer to launch a “new cycle” within the club, which finished 8th last season, has transformed the Sang et Or.
With the best defense in the championship – only 13 goals conceded –, assumed pragmatism and diversity in their offensive play, the Lensois have only conceded three defeats since the start of this 2025-2026 financial year. Traveling to Toulouse for this 17th day, they will return to the Bollaert-Delelis stadium on January 17 for the reception of Auxerre. A showcase symbolizing the newfound good health of the artesian club. RC Lens, in fact, announced on December 14 the purchase of its historic lair from the municipality, for an amount of 27 million euros.
Between PSG and Paris FC, a neighborhood struggle
The current success of the Sang et Or, who would be assured of being autumn champions in the event of victory in Toulouse, is only threatened by PSG. Over the last six years, this honorary distinction has only escaped the capital club twice: in 2016 and 2020, obtained respectively by OGC Nice and Olympique Lyonnais.
Luis Enrique’s team wants to start 2026 on the momentum of a year 2025 with six titles, completed by a success in the final of the Intercontinental Cup against Flamengo (1-1 tab 2-1), on December 17. Before trying to win a new coronation during the Champions Trophy, Thursday January 8, against Olympique de Marseille (OM), PSG will therefore try to establish its local domination during the derby against its new neighbor, Paris FC.
Behind the distance duel between Lens and PSG, the battle for the top of the ranking is in full swing. To stay on the podium, OM, the best attack in Ligue 1, defeated AS Monaco (1-0) on December 14 by relying on its strong men: goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli and the championship’s top scorer, Mason Greenwood. With five defeats in the last six days of Ligue 1, Monaco has, for its part, fallen in the ranking, to 9e place, behind LOSC Lille (4ᵉ), Olympique Lyonnais (5ᵉ), Stade Rennais (6ᵉ), RC Strasbourg (7ᵉ) and Toulouse FC (8ᵉ).
Movement to revive Nice
But the club most in difficulty at the moment is OGC Nice, mired in a historic crisis in terms of its results. Despite a dark series of nine consecutive defeats in all competitions – an unprecedented figure for the Aiglons –, only stopped by a victory against Saint-Etienne in the Coupe de France (2-1), the Riviera team is in 13th place.
In this context, Nice took advantage of the truce to initiate major changes. On December 19, the departure of Fabrice Bocquet, president since the start of the season, was announced. Jean-Pierre Rivère, his predecessor from 2019 to 2025, has agreed to return “voluntarily”while he became involved in politics alongside MP Eric Ciotti (Union of Rights), with a view to the municipal elections of March 2026.
Then, on December 28, “taking into account the sporting situation”OGC Nice finally ended its collaboration with Franck Haise, its coach since the summer of 2024. Claude Puel, Aiglons technician from 2012 to 2016, was appointed to replace him. The 64-year-old coach, who had not occupied a bench since leaving Saint-Etienne in 2021, and whose mission is to “recovery of team performance”will make his debut against Strasbourg on Sunday.
The Nice ultras will once again be absent from the Allianz Riviera stadium for this meeting, as in every match for a month, but they have announced the end of their strike and their return to the stands for the meeting against Toulouse on January 17.
Internal movements within the OGCN could be accompanied by adjustments within the squad by taking advantage of the winter transfer market, which opened on January 1. The Riviera club has already announced the arrival of Elye Wahi, on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt until the end of the season. Like the Aiglons, all Ligue 1 teams will have until February 2 to strengthen their ranks.
