2012–13 Ligue 1

The 2012–13 Ligue 1 was the 75th season since its establishment.^[8] Montpellier were the defending champions. The league schedule was announced in April 2012 and the fixtures were determined on 30 May.^[9] The season began on 10 August and ended on 26 May 2013.^[10] A winter break was in effect from 24 December to 12 January 2013.^[11]

Ligue 1

Season	2012–13
Dates	10 August 2012 – 26 May 2013
Champions	Paris Saint-Germain 3rd Ligue 1 title 3rd French title
Relegated	Nancy Troyes Brest
Champions League	Paris Saint-Germain Marseille Lyon
Europa League	Nice Saint-Étienne Bordeaux
Matches played	380
Goals scored	967 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorer	Zlatan Ibrahimović (30 goals)
Biggest home win	Valenciennes 6–1 Lorient (20 October 2012)[1][2] Nice 5–0 Valenciennes (13 January 2013)[2][3] Lille 5–0 Lorient (7 April 2013)[2][4]
Biggest away win	Bastia 0–4 Paris Saint-Germain (22 September 2012)[5] Evian 0–4 Toulouse (20 October 2012)[2][6] Lorient 0–4 Bordeaux (11 November 2012) Valenciennes 0–4 Paris Saint-Germain (11 November 2012) Toulouse 0–4 Paris Saint-Germain (1 February 2013) Bordeaux 0–4 Lyon (17 February 2013)
Highest scoring	Lorient 4–4 Ajaccio (28 October 2012)[1][2]
Longest winning run	6 games Marseille (10 August – 23 September)
Longest unbeaten run	16 games Saint-Étienne (21 September – 12 May)
Longest winless run	20 games Nancy (17 August – 26 January)
Longest losing run	11 games Brest (9 March – 26 May)
Highest attendance	47,828 – Lille 0–0 Marseille (14 April 2013)[7]
Lowest attendance	0 (behind closed doors) Bastia 1–2 Marseille (12 December 2012)[7]
Average attendance	19,262[7]
← 2011–12 2013–14 →

The season marked the 80th anniversary of professional football in France.^[9] In addition, German sportswear company Adidas became the official provider of match balls for the season after agreeing to a long-term partnership with the Ligue de Football Professionnel.^[9][12] To commemorate the 80th anniversary, adidas unveiled an exclusive ball, known as Le 80, for the new season.

Since France dropped from fifth to sixth place in the UEFA association coefficient rankings at the end of the 2011–12 season, the league's third place team, Lyon qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League, having previously been placed in the playoff round.^[13]

On 12 May, Paris Saint-Germain won the league title after a 1–0 away win against Lyon.^[14][15][16]

Teams

There were three promoted teams from Ligue 2, replacing the three teams that were relegated from Ligue 1 following the 2011–12 season. A total of 20 teams competed in the league with three clubs suffering relegation to the second division, Ligue 2. All clubs that secured Ligue 1 status for the season were subject to approval by the DNCG before becoming eligible to participate.^[17]

Bastia became the first club to achieve promotion to Ligue 1. The club clinched the second division title on 1 May 2012 with three matches to spare after defeating Metz 3–0 at the Stade Armand Cesari.^[18] Bastia is making its return to the first division after a seven-year absence and is entering Ligue 1 on a run of two consecutive promotions.^[19] The club had earned promotion to Ligue 2 after winning the 2010–11 edition of the Championnat National.

Reims and Troyes became the second and third clubs, respectively, to earn promotion to Ligue 1 alongside the champions Bastia.^[20] Both clubs achieved promotion with one game to spare following league victories on 11 May 2012, which positioned each club in second and third place permanently. Reims, which is a six-time Ligue 1 champion, is returning to the first division after over 33 years playing in the lower divisions.^[21] During those 33 years, the club underwent liquidation and had all aspects of the club (its records, trophies, etc.) auctioned off. Troyes is returning to Ligue 1 after spending four years playing in Ligue 2. During its five-year spell outside the first division, Troyes also played in the Championnat National, the third level of French football.^[22]

Stadia and locations

Ajaccio

Bastia

Bordeaux

Brest

Evian

Lille

Lorient

Lyon

Marseille

Montpellier

Nancy

Nice

PSG

Rennes

Reims

St. Étienne

Sochaux

Toulouse

Troyes

Valenciennes

Location of teams in 2012–13 Ligue 1

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity	Av. Att.[23]
Ajaccio	Ajaccio	Stade François Coty	10,660	7,060
Bastia	Bastia	Stade Armand Cesari	16,480	13,619
Bordeaux	Bordeaux	Stade Chaban-Delmas	34,462	19,683
Brest	Brest	Stade Francis-Le Blé	15,931	11,936
Évian	Annecy	Parc des Sports	15,660	9,697
Lille	Villeneuve-d'Ascq	Grand Stade Lille Métropole	50,186	40,326
Lorient	Lorient	Stade du Moustoir	18,890	14,784
Lyon	Lyon	Stade de Gerland	41,842	29,210
Marseille	Marseille	Stade Velodrome1	42,000	34,083
Montpellier	Montpellier	Stade de la Mosson	32,939	18,141
Nancy	Tomblaine	Stade Marcel Picot	20,085	15,098
Nice	Nice	Stade du Ray	17,415	9,590
Paris Saint-Germain	Paris	Parc des Princes	48,712	42,289
Reims	Reims	Stade Auguste-Delaune II	21,684	14,696
Rennes	Rennes	Stade de la Route de Lorient	31,127	17,185
Saint-Étienne	Saint-Étienne	Stade Geoffroy-Guichard2	26,747	22,554
Sochaux	Montbéliard	Stade Auguste Bonal	20,005	12,163
Toulouse	Toulouse	Stadium Municipal	35,470	18,140
Troyes	Troyes	Stade de l'Aube	21,877	12,833
Valenciennes	Valenciennes	Stade du Hainaut	24,926	15,513

• ¹The Stade Vélodrome is currently undergoing renovation in preparation for UEFA Euro 2016. The current capacity is 42,000, a decrease from the original capacity of 60,031.^[24] The capacity will be slightly extended in December 2012 following the completion of a new stand.^[9]
• ²The Stade Geoffroy-Guichard is currently undergoing renovation in preparation for UEFA Euro 2016. The current capacity is 26,747, a decrease from the original capacity of 35,616.^[25] The capacity will be slightly extended in August 2012 following the completion of a new stand.^[9]

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit Manufacturer	Shirt sponsors (front)	Shirt sponsors (back)	Shirt sponsors (sleeve)	Shorts sponsors
Ajaccio	Albert Emon	Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi	Duarig	Restaurants du Cœur, Collectivité Territoriale de Corse, Conseil Général Corse du Sud	Europcar	Géant Casino	Corse-Matin
Bastia	Frédéric Hantz	Yannick Cahuzac	Kappa	Oscaro, Collectivité Territoriale de Corse, Odalys Vacances, Corsica Ferries	Vocalcom	Afflelou, Haute-Corse	Géant Casino, Kaporal 5 Jeans
Bordeaux	Francis Gillot	Jaroslav Plašil	Puma	Kia	Groupama	None	None
Brest	Corentin Martins	Ahmed Kantari	Nike	Quéguiner Matériaux (H)/Yaourt Malo (A & 3)/La Potagère (A & 3), Geodis Calberson, Breizh Cola	Casino Supermarchés	GUYOT Environnement	Centre Dépannage Gaz, Oceania Hotels
Evian	Pascal Dupraz	Cédric Barbosa	Kappa	Evian, Pilot, Danette, Geodis Calberson, Sword Group	Samsic	Agence de Voyages SAT	VEKA
Lille	Rudi Garcia	Rio Mavuba	Umbro	Partouche	Partouche	Nord-Pas-de-Calais	None
Lorient	Christian Gourcuff	Bruno Ecuele Manga	Macron	La Trinitaine, Armor-Lux	Salaun Holidays	None	Lorient Agglomération
Lyon	Rémi Garde	Lisandro López	Adidas	Hyundai/Veolia, MDA Electroménager, UNICEF	Groupama	Renault Trucks	Intermarché
Marseille	Élie Baup	Steve Mandanda	Adidas	Intersport	Groupama	OpusDry (H)/Technitoit (A)	Groupama
Montpellier	René Girard	Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa	Nike	Sud de France, Dyneff, Montpellier Agglomération, Partouche	La Région Languedoc-Roussillon	FAUN-Environnement	Système U, Wati B
Nancy	Patrick Gabriel	André Luiz	Umbro	Groupe DLSI, Sopalin, Geodis Calberson, NetBet Sport	Comarch	Chaussea, Grand Nancy	Caisse d'Epargne
Nice	Claude Puel	Didier Digard	Burrda	Mutuelles du Soleil, Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur	Pizzorno Environnement	Rémanence Hygiène et Propreté	Ville de Nice
Paris Saint-Germain	Carlo Ancelotti	Thiago Silva	Nike	Fly Emirates	None	Indesit	None
Reims	Hubert Fournier	Mickaël Tacalfred	Hummel	Transports Caillot/Epsilon Global/Sanei Ascenseurs, Geodis Calberson, Ace Crédit	TSO Logistique	Ville de Reims	Sanei Ascenseurs/Transports Caillot
Rennes	Frédéric Antonetti	Romain Danzé	Puma	Samsic, rennes.fr	Blot Immobilier	Association ELA	Breizh Cola
Saint-Étienne	Christophe Galtier	Loïc Perrin	Adidas	Winamax, Mister-Auto, Conseil général de la Loire en Rhône-Alpes	Triangle Intérim	Markal	Saint-Étienne Métropole, Loire, Rapid CroQ'
Sochaux	Éric Hély	David Sauget	Lotto	Mobil 1, Franche-Comté	Pays de Montbéliard Agglomération	Peugeot 208	Téréva
Toulouse	Alain Casanova	Jonathan Zebina	Kappa	JD Patrimoine, JD Promotion	Newrest	None	None
Troyes	Jean-Marc Furlan	Eloge Enza Yamissi	Duarig	Afflelou, Colorpro Design (H)/Isolapro (A), Intermarché	Afflelou	Urbanéo (H)/Dugain Piscines (A)	Troyes, FSE Securite Grand Est
Valenciennes	Daniel Sanchez	Rudy Mater	Uhlsport	GDE Recyclage (H)/Prévoir Assurances (A), Toyota	Prévoir Assurances (H)/GDE Recyclage (A)	Nord-Pas-de-Calais	Konica Minolta

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing head coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming head coach	Date of appointment	Position in table
Nice	René Marsiglia	Sacked	21 May 2012[26]	Off-season	Claude Puel	24 May 2012[27]	Off-season
Brest	Corentin Martins	Mutual consent	31 May 2012	Off-season	Landry Chauvin	31 May 2012[28]	Off-season
Ajaccio	Olivier Pantaloni	Resigned	14 June 2012[29]	Off-season	Alex Dupont	22 June 2012[30]	Off-season
Marseille	Didier Deschamps	Mutual consent	2 July 2012[31]	Off-season	Élie Baup	4 July 2012[32]	Off-season
Evian	Pablo Correa	Sacked	3 September 2012[33]	18th	Pascal Dupraz	3 September 2012	18th
Ajaccio	Alex Dupont	Sacked	17 December 2012[34]	14th	Albert Emon	21 December 2012[35]	14th
Nancy	Jean Fernandez	Resigned	10 January 2013[36]	20th	Patrick Gabriel	11 January 2013[37]	20th
Brest	Landry Chauvin	Sacked	2 April 2013[38]	18th	Corentin Martins	4 April 2013[39]	18th

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Paris Saint-Germain (C)	38	25	8	5	69	23	+46	83	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Marseille	38	21	8	9	42	36	+6	71
3	Lyon	38	19	10	9	61	38	+23	67	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
4	Nice	38	18	10	10	57	46	+11	64	Qualification for the Europa League play-off round
5	Saint-Étienne	38	16	15	7	60	32	+28	63	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round[a]
6	Lille	38	16	14	8	59	40	+19	62
7	Bordeaux	38	13	16	9	40	34	+6	55	Qualification for the Europa League group stage[b]
8	Lorient	38	14	11	13	57	58	−1	53
9	Montpellier	38	15	7	16	54	51	+3	52
10	Toulouse	38	13	12	13	49	47	+2	51
11	Valenciennes	38	12	12	14	49	53	−4	48
12	Bastia	38	13	8	17	50	66	−16	47
13	Rennes	38	13	7	18	48	59	−11	46
14	Reims	38	10	13	15	33	42	−9	43
15	Sochaux	38	10	11	17	41	57	−16	41
16	Evian	38	10	10	18	46	53	−7	40
17	Ajaccio	38	9	15	14	39	51	−12	40[c]
18	Nancy (R)	38	9	11	18	38	58	−20	38	Relegation to Ligue 2
19	Troyes (R)	38	8	13	17	43	61	−18	37
20	Brest (R)	38	8	5	25	32	62	−30	29

Source: Ligue 1
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Saint-Étienne, as winner of the 2012–13 Coupe de la Ligue, qualifies for the third qualifying round of 2013–14 UEFA Europa League.
2. Bordeaux, winner of the 2012–13 Coupe de France, qualified for the Group stage of 2013–14 UEFA Europa League.
3. On 9 August 2012, Ajaccio was docked two points, one suspended, by the Disciplinary Committee of the Ligue de Football Professionnel for the 2012–13 season because of incidents during a 2011–12 league match against Lyon.^[40]

Results

Home \ Away	ACA	BAS	BOR	BRS	EVI	LIL	LOR	OL	OM	MHS	NAL	NIC	PSG	REI	REN	STE	SOC	TFC	TRO	VAL
Ajaccio		0–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–3	1–0	3–1	0–2	2–1	1–1	0–2	0–0	2–0	2–4	0–0	0–1	2–3	0–1	1–1
Bastia	1–0		3–1	4–0	0–0	1–2	2–1	4–1	1–2	3–1	4–2	0–1	0–4	2–1	0–2	0–3	0–0	0–0	3–2	2–3
Bordeaux	2–2	1–0		0–2	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–4	1–0	4–2	3–2	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	2–2	1–0	0–0	2–0
Brest	1–1	3–0	1–1		1–0	1–2	2–0	1–1	1–2	1–2	1–2	0–2	0–3	0–2	0–2	0–1	0–2	0–1	2–1	2–1
Evian	1–1	3–0	2–3	0–2		0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	4–0	0–1	2–2	4–2	2–2	5–1	0–4	2–0	2–0
Lille	2–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–2		5–0	1–1	0–0	4–1	1–1	0–2	1–2	3–0	2–0	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1	2–1
Lorient	4–4	4–1	0–4	4–0	2–1	2–0		1–1	0–1	2–1	3–0	1–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–0	1–0	3–2	1–1
Lyon	2–0	5–2	0–2	1–0	0–0	1–3	3–1		0–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	0–1	3–0	2–0	1–1	1–2	3–1	4–1	3–2
Marseille	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–3	1–4		3–2	0–1	2–2	2–2	0–0	3–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	2–1	1–0
Montpellier	3–0	4–0	1–0	2–1	2–3	0–0	2–0	1–2	0–1		1–0	3–1	1–1	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1
Nancy	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–0	3–1	2–2	2–1	0–3	0–1	0–2		1–0	0–1	1–2	1–3	0–3	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–1
Nice	0–1	2–2	0–1	4–2	3–2	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–1	2–0	2–1		2–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	1–0	3–1	5–0
Paris SG	0–0	3–1	0–0	3–1	4–0	1–0	2–2	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	3–0		1–0	1–2	1–2	2–0	2–0	4–0	1–1
Reims	1–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	1–2	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	3–1	2–0	3–1	1–0		1–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–1
Rennes	1–1	3–2	0–2	2–2	0–1	2–0	1–2	0–1	2–2	2–1	0–2	0–3	0–2	1–0		2–2	2–2	2–0	1–2	2–0
Saint-Étienne	4–2	3–0	0–0	4–0	1–0	1–2	0–2	0–1	2–0	4–1	4–0	4–0	2–2	0–0	2–0		0–1	2–2	2–0	1–0
Sochaux	0–0	2–3	2–2	1–2	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	3–1	1–3	1–2	0–1	3–2	1–0	0–1	1–2		1–2	3–1	1–1
Toulouse	2–4	0–0	0–0	3–1	0–0	4–2	0–1	3–0	0–1	2–0	2–1	3–4	0–4	1–1	2–2	2–1	2–0		2–2	2–2
Troyes	3–2	0–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	2–2	1–2	1–0	1–1	3–3	1–1	0–1	4–2	2–3	2–2	0–0	0–2		0–1
Valenciennes	3–0	3–4	0–0	2–1	2–1	1–3	6–1	0–2	4–1	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–4	1–0	4–1	0–0	3–1	0–0	2–1

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

Season statistics

Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Zlatan Ibrahimović Paris Saint-Germain 30 2 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Saint-Étienne 19 Darío Cvitanich Nice 4 Bafétimbi Gomis Lyon 16 5 Wissam Ben Yedder Toulouse 15 Jérémie Aliadière Lorient Anthony Modeste Bastia 8 Salomon Kalou Lille 14 9 André-Pierre Gignac Marseille 13 Saber Khalifa Evian Source: Official Goalscorers' Standings

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Saber Khalifa Evian Montpellier 2–3 Archived 9 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine 6 October 2012 Bafétimbi Gomis Lyon Marseille 1–4 Archived 9 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine 28 November 2012 Zlatan Ibrahimović Paris SG Valenciennes 0–4 Archived 9 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine 11 December 2012

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Souleymane Camara for Montpellier against Toulouse (10 August 2012)
• Fastest goal of the season: 27 seconds – Zlatan Ibrahimović for Paris Saint-Germain against Lille (2 September 2012)
• Latest goal of the season: 90+5 minutes – Ilan for Bastia against Reims (18 August 2012)
• Largest winning margin: 5 goals
  • Valenciennes 6–1 Lorient (20 October 2012)
  • Nice 5–0 Valenciennes (13 January 2013)
  • Lille 5–0 Lorient (7 April 2013)
• Highest scoring game: 8 goals
  • Lorient 4–4 Ajaccio (28 October 2012)
• Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 6 goals
  • Valenciennes 6–1 Lorient (20 October 2012)
• Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 3 goals
  • Valenciennes 3–4 Bastia (30 March 2013)
  • Toulouse 3–4 Nice (6 April 2013)

Clean sheets

• Most clean sheets: 23^[2]
  • Paris Saint-Germain
• Fewest clean sheets: 6^[2]
  • Brest
  • Nancy

Discipline

• Most yellow cards (club): 83^[41]
  • Bastia
• Most yellow cards (player): 14^[41][42]
  • Sambou Yatabaré (Bastia)
• Most red cards (club): 10^[41]
  • Paris Saint-Germain
  • Rennes
• Most red cards (player): 2^[41]
  • Younès Belhanda (Montpellier)
  • Cheikh M'Bengue (Toulouse)
  • Jamel Saihi (Montpellier)
  • Florian Thauvin (Bastia)

Awards

See also: Trophées UNFP du football

Award	Winner	Club
Player of the Season	Zlatan Ibrahimović	Paris Saint-Germain
Young Player of the Season	Florian Thauvin	Bastia
Goalkeeper of the Season	Salvatore Sirigu	Paris Saint-Germain
Goal of the Season	Saber Khalifa	Evian
Manager of the Season	Christophe Galtier	Saint-Étienne
	Carlo Ancelotti	Paris Saint-Germaim

Team of the Year
Goalkeeper	Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint-Germain)
Defence	Christophe Jallet (Paris Saint-Germain)	Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain)	Nicolas Nkoulou (Marseille)	Maxwell (Paris Saint-Germain)
Midfield	Dimitri Payet (Lille)	Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain)	Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain)	Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)
Attack	Zlatan Ibrahimović (Paris Saint-Germain)		Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Saint-Étienne)

List of 2012–13 transfers

Main articles: List of French football transfers summer 2012 and List of French football transfers winter 2013