Bordeaux is dominating the French league to such an extent that the
team is firmly intent on a clean sweep of domestic honors.
Saturday's home game against 19th-place Boulogne looks like
another routine win for Bordeaux, which remains on course to win
the French Cup and defend its League Cup trophy.
"We all believe we can win the treble," Bordeaux defender
Mathieu Chalme said.
Bordeaux leads second-place Montpellier by eight points and
is 10 clear of Lille ahead of this weekend's 22nd round of games.
Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud, who took a risk when he hired
Laurent Blanc as a novice coach 2 1/2 years ago, has been swept
along with the positive vibe.
"We can compete on all fronts, and I think the players want
to do that," Triaud said after Bordeaux beat Le Mans 3-2 Tuesday to
reach the League Cup quarterfinals.
Given that five of its next six matches are at Stade
Chaban-Delmas - including three of the four league games - Bordeaux
may open up an even bigger lead and can progress in both cup
competitions.
Montpellier does not appear to hold any belief it can catch
Bordeaux, which has the best home record in the league. Having
signed the French second-division's top scorer Olivier Giroud from
Tours this week, Montpellier loaned him straight back until the end
of the season.
When it was promoted from the second division last season,
Montpellier hired coach Rene Girard and president Louis Nicollin
set him the target of reaching 40 points - normally enough to stay
up.
Montpellier only needs to draw at home to Marseille on
Saturday to achieve that initial target.
After 21 rounds, Bordeaux has 47 points, Montpellier has 39
and Lille has 37.
With its first-division status all but secured, Montpellier
is building for next season.
The 23-year-old Giroud - who has 15 league goals so far -
will beef up the attack, and Girard has signed Bosnia defender Emir
Spahic to new four-year deal and offered better terms to young
players such as winger Karim Ait-Fana.
Marseille, meanwhile, needs to beat Montpellier to maintain
its hopes of catching Bordeaux. Marseille is 11 points behind
Bordeaux in fourth place, but coach the team has played a game
less.
The return to form of winger Hatem Ben Arfa, who looked
certain to leave the club earlier this month, has given coach
Didier Deschamps a welcome boost.
Long regarded as one of the brightest prospects in France,
the 22-year-old Ben Arfa has struggled to live up to his reputation
since breaking into the Lyon team when he was 17.
"He is making efforts to get fitter. Now it's a question of
him getting games, which will help his consistency," Deschamps
said. "It's up to him to keep playing well and even to improve."
Striker Mamadou Niang has also returned to form, scoring
three times in the last three games.
Also Saturday, it's: Le Mans vs. Toulouse; Lille vs. Lens;
Monaco vs. Nice; Nancy vs. Lorient; and Rennes vs. Grenoble.
On Sunday, Lyon plays Paris Saint-Germain at Stade Gerland,
Valenciennes faces Sochaux, and Auxerre plays Saint-Etienne, which
is four points above the relegation zone.
At the bottom, Grenoble has only seven points. Boulogne has
15 points and is a point behind 18th-place Le Mans.
Lyon's mini-winning streak of four games came to an end when
it lost to Monaco 2-1 in the French Cup on Sunday and was then
knocked out of the League Cup by Lorient 1-0 on Wednesday.
PSG is once again beset by mounting inner turmoil. The club's
notorious hooligan element has started fighting again, and the fans
are united against the club's chief backer, Colony Capital, which
they say refuses to buy new players.
About 100 hardcore thugs from two different sections of PSG's
stadium - the Kop of Boulogne section and the Auteuil section -
clashed violently at Lille two weeks ago.
The feud is growing enough for the French league to consider
whether to separate Boulogne and Auteuil supporters inside Lyon's
stadium. This would make for the rare right of a club's away fans
being segregated from each other, rather than just from the home
fans.
