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
Season2008–09
Dates9 August 2008 – 30 May 2009
ChampionsBordeaux
6th Ligue 1 title
6th French title
RelegatedCaen
Nantes
Le Havre
Champions LeagueBordeaux
Marseille
Lyon
Europa LeagueToulouse
Lille
Matches played380
Goals scored858 (2.26 per match)
Top goalscorerAndré-Pierre Gignac
(24 goals)
Biggest home winMarseille 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 winNantes 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 scoringRennes 4–4 Marseille (9 August 2008)
(8 goals)
Highest attendance78,056, Lille 2–0 Lyon (7 March 2009)
Lowest attendance6,294, AS Monaco 3–0 Le Mans (23 November 2008)
Average attendance20,913

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

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Promotion and relegation

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Top goalscorers

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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

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Monthly awards

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UNFP Player of the Month

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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

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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

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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

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

Keeper of the Year

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

Manager of the Year

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

Team of the Year

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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

References

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