When France made the decision to go down to 18 teams in Ligue 1 for this season, there was no small amount of hand-wringing. Already, the league was missing stalwarts such as Bordeaux and Saint-Étienne. Toulouse and Lens, who had experienced European football with some consistency this century, had also recently been in the second tier, as had Monaco, prior to their takeover by Dimtry Ryblovlev. Were more big names to go down (see Lyon’s struggles this season and Lens’ poor domestic form to kick off the campaign), the French top flight could be in jeopardy of losing some of its international appeal. However, while there may be some merit to those worries, the benefits to the quality of the league in terms of tighter competition and less fixture congestion have been manifest this season, particularly in Europe. Ligue 1 is, along with Italy, one of just two European leagues to have all of their teams still alive in intercontinental competition. It’s not been a perfect season for the French sides in Europe, given PSG’s wobbles and Lens and Marseille failing to advance in the Champions League, but results such as Toulouse’s gritty win over Liverpool and Lens foiling Arsenal at home underscored the depth in quality on offer in France. In truth, though, this belt-tightening is a welcome one for the league and its teams, a process which started with the elimination of the Coupe de la Ligue three years ago, and is now demonstrably yielding a higher level of play, with the weekend’s Coupe de France results offering further evidence of that trend. A historic tournament which is one of the biggest and oldest knockout competitions in the world, the Coupe de France has long been something of a bugbear for France’s professional clubs. A random draw and rules which frequently allowed lower-ranked sides to play at home, giving them a competitive advantage and taking away an opportunity for an extra take of a gate, made it less appealing and were motivating factors behind the establishment of the Coupe de la Ligue. As a product of this, upsets have been far from rare. USM Quevilly reaching the final against Lyon in 2012 stands out in terms of an extended run, but in recent seasons Nice, Saint-Étienne and Clermont have all been felled by amateur sides, the last of these to a sixth-tier club last season. This year, though, there has been none of that — of the 18 teams in action over the last three days, only Lorient lost to lower-league opposition, and even that was to a Sochaux side who were relegated administratively last season and are one of French football’s sleeping giants. A pair of all-Ligue 1 matchups, between Lens and Monaco and Clermont and Metz also saw top-flight teams dumped out, but in all, 15 Ligue 1 teams will take part in the Round of 32 in a fortnight’s time. Some may argue that this increased focus on a cup competition vis-a-vis having fewer matches to play because of a smaller league, robs the tournament of some of its putative magic, and for lesser-known or younger players at the bigger clubs to be given a chance. There is some merit to this, but the reality is that the sort of focus and application that Ligue 1 sides showed against amateur opposition, with managers playing strong lineups and underscoring the need to respect their opponents, will only increase their ability to produce more compelling football in the league, thus bearing fruit both domestically and in Europe. Talking points Of the two all-Ligue 1 matches, Lens v Monaco was surely the most appealing before the weekend, and the match more than lived up to those expectations. The Africa Cup of Nations will weigh heavily on several Ligue 1 sides, but Monaco, in losing Wilfried Singo, Mohamed Camara, Ismail Jakobs, Mohammed Salisu and Krépin Diatta, have probably been hit the hardest, given how tightly fought the race for Europe is shaping up to be. With Aleksandr Golovin suspended and Taki Minamino at the Asian Cup, Adi Hütter had to offer up a somewhat makeshift side, but they still got the job done at the Stade Bollaert, working hard for a 2-2 draw before winning on penalties, a result that underscores the mental strength and resilience of the squad. Paris Saint-Germain were another side contending with absences, but even in the face of that, to see Kylian Mbappé play 90 minutes in a 9-0 win over US Revel was something of a surprise. The captain duly recorded a hat-trick, becoming the club’s all-time leading scorer in the competition, but his playing the entire match on the back of having done the same in midweek in the Trophée des Champions will have offered further evidence of the importance of the competition to PSG. Finally, a word for Martinique’s Golden Lion — the amateur side made a round trip journey of nearly 9,000 miles, only to be hammered 12-0 by Lille. Again, the cynics will say that a lack of opportunities to rotate will make results like this more of the norm, but the achievement of the team, who beat sixth-tier FC Métropole to reach this stage, is nothing of which to be dismissive.