2008–09 Ligue 1

The 2008–09 Ligue 1 season was the 71st since its establishment. Bordeaux became champions for the sixth time on the last weekend of the season. The fixtures were announced on 23 May 2008.^[1] The season began on 9 August 2008 and ended on 30 May 2009. A total of 20 teams contested the league, consisting of 17 who competed the previous season and three that were promoted from France's second division Ligue 2.

Ligue 1

Season	2008–09
Dates	9 August 2008 – 30 May 2009
Champions	Bordeaux 6th Ligue 1 title 6th French title
Relegated	Caen Nantes Le Havre
Champions League	Bordeaux Marseille Lyon
Europa League	Toulouse Lille
Matches played	380
Goals scored	858 (2.26 per match)
Top goalscorer	André-Pierre Gignac (24 goals)
Biggest home win	Marseille 4–0 Auxerre (17 August 2008) Bordeaux 4–0 Le Havre (28 October 2008) Bordeaux 4–0 Paris Saint-Germain (11 January 2009) Marseille 4–0 Rennes (30 May 2009)
Biggest away win	Nantes 1–4 Le Mans (30 August 2008) Saint-Étienne 1–4 Lorient (29 October 2008) Nantes 1–4 Paris Saint-Germain (7 February 2009)
Highest scoring	Rennes 4–4 Marseille (9 August 2008) (8 goals)
Highest attendance	78,056, Lille 2–0 Lyon (7 March 2009)
Lowest attendance	6,294, AS Monaco 3–0 Le Mans (23 November 2008)
Average attendance	20,913
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

Bordeaux consecutively won their last 11 league games of the season and clinched the title on 30 May 2009 after the 1–0 victory against Caen. This was Bordeaux's sixth title and their first since the 1998–99 season. Bordeaux's title victory ended a historic run for Lyon, who had won seven consecutive titles beginning with the 2001–02 season. Le Havre, Nantes and Caen were relegated to Ligue 2. Both Le Havre and Nantes were promoted from Ligue 2 last season. Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse and Lille all secured European football for the 2009–10 season through their league position.

Teams

Promotion and relegation

RC Lens, RC Strasbourg and FC Metz were relegated to the 2008–09 Ligue 2 after finishing in the bottom three spots of the table at the end of the 2007–08 season. Lens were relegated to the Ligue 2 after 17 seasons of continuous membership in the top football league of France, while Strasbourg and Metz made their immediate return to the second level.

The three relegated teams were replaced by three 2007–08 Ligue 2 sides. Champions Le Havre, who terminated their second-level status after five years, runners-up FC Nantes, who returned to the top flight after one season in second level and Grenoble Foot 38 returned to highest French league for first time after 35 years.

Stadia and locations

Auxerre

Bordeaux

Caen

Grenoble

Le Havre

Le Mans

Lille

Lorient

Lyon

Marseille

AS Monaco

Nancy

Nantes

Nice

PSG

Rennes

St. Étienne

Sochaux

Toulouse

Valenciennes

Location of teams in Ligue 1 2008–09

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
Auxerre	Auxerre	Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps	24,493
Bordeaux	Bordeaux	Stade Chaban-Delmas	34,327
Caen	Caen	Stade Michel d'Ornano	21,500
Grenoble	Grenoble	Stade des Alpes	20,000
Le Havre	Le Havre	Stade Jules Deschaseaux	16,454
Le Mans	Le Mans	Stade Léon-Bollée	17,500
Lille	Villeneuve d'Ascq	Stadium Lille-Metropole	21,803
Lorient	Lorient	Stade du Moustoir	16,669
Lyon	Lyon	Stade de Gerland	43,051
Marseille	Marseille	Stade Vélodrome	60,031
Monaco	Fontvieille	Stade Louis II	18,500
Nancy	Tomblaine	Stade Marcel Picot	20,087
Nantes	Nantes	Stade de la Beaujoire	38,285
Nice	Nice	Stade du Ray	17,415
Paris Saint-Germain	Paris	Parc des Princes	48,712
Rennes	Rennes	Stade de la Route de Lorient	31,127
Saint-Étienne	Saint-Étienne	Stade Geoffroy-Guichard	35,616
Sochaux	Montbéliard	Stade Auguste Bonal	20,025
Toulouse	Toulouse	Stadium Municipal	35,672
Valenciennes	Valenciennes	Stade Nungesser	16,547

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Manager	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsors (front)	Shirt sponsors (back)	Shirt sponsors (sleeve)	Shorts sponsors
Auxerre	Jean Fernandez	Airness	Nasuba Express, Invicta Group	Creditec	Conseil général de l'Yonne	None
Bordeaux	Laurent Blanc	Puma	Kia	Cdiscount	Pichet Immobilier	Cdiscount
Caen	Franck Dumas	Nike	GDE Recyclage (H)/Campagne de France (A), Celeos Groupe/Groupe CTI	Campagne de France (H)/GDE Recyclage (A)	Groupe Samro	Groupe Samro
Grenoble	Mehmed Baždarević	Nike	Index, Gaz Électricité de Grenoble (H), ISS	None	None	Samse
Le Havre	Frédéric Hantz	Airness	Système U	Region Haute Normandie	Poweo	None
Le Mans	Arnaud Cormier	Kappa	Fermiers de Loué (H)/Le Gaulois(A), NTN	Groupama	Système U	NTN
Lille	Rudi Garcia	Canterbury of New Zealand	Partouche	Partouche	Nord-Pas-de-Calais	None
Lorient	Christian Gourcuff	Erreà	La Trinitaine, Cap l'Orient Agglomération, B&B Hotels	Thermoseme	None	None
Lyon	Claude Puel	Umbro	Novotel (H)/Ticket Restaurant (A), Apicil	Ticket Restaurant (H)/Novotel (A)	Ticket Restaurant (H)/Novotel (A)	Renault Trucks
Marseille	Eric Gerets	Adidas	Direct Énergie (H)/Neuf (A & in UEFA matches)	Groupama	Nasuba Express	Groupama
AS Monaco	Ricardo Gomes	Puma	Fedcom, HSBC, Fight Aids Monaco	HSBC	HSBC	None
Nancy	Pablo Correa	Baliston	Odalys Vacances, Geodis Calberson, Clairefontaine, Grand Nancy	Triangle Interim	Regina	Chaussea
Nantes	Elie Baup	Kappa	Synergie Interim (H)/Profil Plus (A), Paprec Recyclage	Profil Plus (H)/Synergie Interim (A)	None	Complémentaire Retraite Mutualiste COREM
Nice	Frédéric Antonetti	Lotto	Nasuba Express (H)/Ubaldi (A), Takara Multimédia, Communauté Nice Côte d'Azur	Ubaldi (H)/Nasuba Express (A)	Pizzorno Environnement	Minea Électroménager
PSG	Paul Le Guen	Nike	Fly Emirates	Alain Afflelou	Poweo	Groupe Sendin
Rennes	Guy Lacombe	Puma	Samsic Propreté, rennes.fr	Blot Immobilier	Association ELA	Groupe ROSE
Saint-Étienne	Alain Perrin	Adidas	Konica Minolta, Conseil général de la Loire en Rhône-Alpes	Groupama	None	Fruité Entreprises
Sochaux	Francis Gillot	Lotto	Mobil 1, Franche-Comté	Pays de Montbéliard Agglomération	CanéO	Meri/Creditec
Toulouse	Alain Casanova	Airness	Groupe IDEC, Monné-Decroix, ISS	Newrest	None	Loft Groupe
Valenciennes	Antoine Kombouaré	Diadora	Toyota (H)/SITA (A)	SITA (H)/Toyota (A)	Nord-Pas-de-Calais	Partouche

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Bordeaux (C)	38	24	8	6	64	34	+30	80	Qualification to Champions League group stage
2	Marseille	38	22	11	5	67	35	+32	77
3	Lyon	38	20	11	7	52	29	+23	71	Qualification to Champions League play-off round
4	Toulouse	38	16	16	6	45	27	+18	64	Qualification to Europa League play-off round
5	Lille	38	17	13	8	51	39	+12	64	Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round
6	Paris Saint-Germain	38	19	7	12	49	38	+11	64
7	Rennes	38	15	16	7	42	34	+8	61
8	Auxerre	38	16	7	15	35	35	0	55
9	Nice	38	13	11	14	40	41	−1	50
10	Lorient	38	10	15	13	47	47	0	45
11	Monaco	38	11	12	15	41	45	−4	45
12	Valenciennes	38	10	14	14	35	42	−7	44
13	Grenoble	38	10	14	14	24	37	−13	44
14	Sochaux	38	10	12	16	40	48	−8	42
15	Nancy	38	10	12	16	38	47	−9	42
16	Le Mans	38	10	10	18	43	54	−11	40
17	Saint-Étienne	38	11	7	20	40	56	−16	40
18	Caen (R)	38	8	13	17	42	49	−7	37	Relegation to Ligue 2
19	Nantes (R)	38	9	10	19	33	54	−21	37
20	Le Havre (R)	38	7	5	26	30	67	−37	26

Source: Ligue 1
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
France's third UEFA Europa League spot went to Ligue 2 side Guingamp, winners of 2008–09 Coupe de France.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	AUX	BOR	CAE	GRE	LHA	MFC	LIL	LOR	OL	OM	ASM	NAL	NAN	NIC	PSG	REN	STE	SOC	TFC	VAL
Auxerre		0–2	2–1	2–0	3–0	2–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	0–2	0–1	1–1	2–1	0–1	1–2	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–0
Bordeaux	2–0		2–1	1–1	4–0	3–2	2–2	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	4–0	1–1	1–1	3–0	2–1	2–1
Caen	1–0	0–1		2–2	0–1	3–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–1	2–2	1–2	3–0	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–0	3–1
Grenoble	0–0	0–1	2–1		0–0	2–1	0–0	1–3	0–2	0–3	1–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	0–1	1–0	0–0
Le Havre	1–2	0–3	1–2	0–1		1–2	0–1	1–3	0–1	0–1	2–3	2–3	0–2	1–0	1–3	1–0	2–4	2–1	0–1	2–1
Le Mans	0–2	1–3	2–0	1–1	2–0		0–0	0–1	1–3	1–1	0–1	2–0	0–2	1–2	0–1	2–2	1–0	2–0	1–2	1–0
Lille	3–2	2–1	2–2	2–1	3–1	1–3		1–1	2–0[a]	1–2	2–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	0–0	1–0	3–0	3–2	1–1	1–0
Lorient	0–2	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–1		0–0	1–2	1–1	1–0	3–0	0–1	0–1	1–2	3–1	1–2	1–0	1–1
Lyon	0–2	2–1	3–1	2–0	3–1	2–0	2–2	1–1		0–0	2–2	2–1	3–0	3–2	0–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–0	0–0
Marseille	4–0	1–0	2–1	4–1	2–0	0–0	2–2	2–3	1–3		0–0	0–3	2–0	2–1	2–4	4–0	3–1	2–1	2–2	0–0
Monaco	0–1	3–4	1–1	1–0	0–1	3–0	0–2	2–0	0–1	0–1		3–1	1–2	1–2	1–0	3–1	2–2	1–1	3–2	1–1
Nancy	0–2	1–0	1–1	2–0	2–1	2–2	0–0	2–2	0–2	1–2	0–1		2–0	1–2	1–1	0–0	1–2	1–1	0–0	2–0
Nantes	2–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–4	0–2	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–1		2–0	1–4	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–0
Nice	2–0	2–2	2–2	0–0	0–0	2–2	0–1	2–0	1–3	0–2	0–0	2–1	2–1		1–0	0–1	3–1	1–1	0–2	2–0
Paris SG	1–2	1–0	2–0	0–1	3–0	3–1	1–0	3–2	1–0	1–3	0–0	4–1	1–0	2–1		0–1	2–1	2–1	0–1	2–2
Rennes	2–0	2–3	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–2	2–1	3–1	3–0	4–4	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–0		1–0	1–0	0–0	0–0
Saint-Étienne	2–0	1–1	3–2	0–2	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–4	0–1	0–3	2–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	1–0	0–3		2–1	2–2	4–0
Sochaux	0–1	0–0	2–2	1–2	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–0	3–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	3–0	1–0		1–2	1–1
Toulouse	1–0	3–0	0–1	2–0	2–1	2–0	0–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	2–2	4–1	0–0	3–1	2–1		0–0
Valenciennes	2–0	1–2	2–0	1–1	3–2	0–2	2–0	3–1	2–0	1–3	3–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	2–2	0–1

Source: Ligue 1
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. The match was played at Stade de France.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Source: Ligue 1 (in French)

André-Pierre Gignac won the Trophée du Meilleur Buteur.

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	André-Pierre Gignac	Toulouse	24
2	Karim Benzema	Lyon	17
	Guillaume Hoarau	Paris Saint-Germain
4	Michel Bastos	Lille	14
	Ireneusz Jeleń	Auxerre
	Steve Savidan	Caen
7	Fernando Cavenaghi	Bordeaux	13
	Marouane Chamakh	Bordeaux
	Mamadou Niang	Marseille
10	Yoann Gourcuff	Bordeaux	12

Awards

Monthly awards

UNFP Player of the Month

Month	Player	Club
August[2]	Steve Mandanda	Marseille
September[3]	André-Pierre Gignac	Toulouse
October[4]	Guillaume Hoarau	Paris Saint-Germain
November[5]	Olivier Echouafni	Nice
December[6]	Stéphane Sessègnon	Paris Saint-Germain
January[7]	Péguy Luyindula	Paris Saint-Germain
February[8]	Guillaume Hoarau	Paris Saint-Germain
March[9]	André-Pierre Gignac	Toulouse
April[10]	Yoann Gourcuff	Bordeaux

Annual awards

Here are shown the nominees for Ligue 1 annual awards.^[11] The winners, displayed in bold, were determined at the annual UNFP Awards on 24 May 2009.^[12]

Player of the Year

Player	Nationality	Club
Michel Bastos	Brazil	Lille
André-Pierre Gignac	France	Toulouse
Yoann Gourcuff	France	Bordeaux
Stéphane Sessègnon	Benin	PSG

Young Player of the Year

Player	Nationality	Club
Étienne Capoue	France	Toulouse
Eden Hazard	Belgium	Lille
Loïc Rémy	France	Nice
Moussa Sissoko	France	Toulouse

Keeper of the Year

Player	Nationality	Club
Cédric Carrasso	France	Toulouse
Hugo Lloris	France	Lyon
Nicolas Douchez	France	Rennes
Steve Mandanda	France	Marseille

Manager of the Year

Player	Nationality	Club
Frédéric Antonetti	France	Nice
Laurent Blanc	France	Bordeaux
Eric Gerets	Belgium	Marseille
Paul Le Guen	France	PSG

Team of the Year

Lloris

Hilton

Diawara

Fanni

Taiwo

Gourcuff

Sessègnon

Cheyrou

Bastos

Gignac

Hoarau

Ligue 1 Team of the Year

GK	Hugo Lloris	Lyon
RB	Rod Fanni	Rennes
CB	Hilton	Marseille
CB	Souleymane Diawara	Bordeaux
LB	Taye Taiwo	Marseille
RM	Benoît Cheyrou	Marseille
CM	Yoann Gourcuff	Bordeaux
CM	Stéphane Sessègnon	Paris Saint-Germain
LM	Michel Bastos	Lille
ST	Guillaume Hoarau	Paris Saint-Germain
ST	André-Pierre Gignac	Toulouse