Ligue 1 Tournament Review

The Ligue 1 Tournament, the fifth in Kami’s Fifa Tournaments has concluded, here is the review and I hope you enjoy it.

Starting with Group A which consisted of Boo, Kent, Andrei, Hugo and Kami. Due to the five team format, three players would be progressing from this Group. Hugo and Kent where my picks to progress with the final spot being wide open. Kent did a professional job on everybody in the group winning all his games and finishing top. Andrei was the surprise package with a second place finish dropping points against Kent only. So surely Hugo was poised to take the third place? Kami wasn’t a challenge as he lost all his games finishing rock bottom, but Boo earned himself a respectful 4 points including a credible 2 – 2 draw with Hugo. Hugo’s losses to Andrei and Kent proved fatal as Boo took the third place spot via virtue of plus two goal difference. A great achievement for Boo, whilst Hugo who has contested the last three tournament finals and is the number one player in the rankings, crashes out in the group stage. Huge shock.

Group B now and both Group B and C consist of four players with the best third place finisher taking a berth in the knock-outs. Nadz, Tyke, Greg and TLLL made up this group. Whilst current champion Tyke was expected to progress in first and did so with seven points, the rest of the group seemed pretty open. TLLL was the one to take points from Tyke with a 2 – 2 draw which was backed up with a 3 – 2 victory against Nadz. Nadz lost all his games finishing bottom of the group so Greg’s 3 – 1 victory over TLLL was a crucial win in the battle for second place. Lucky for TLLL he would join Greg in the knock-outs as he ultimately was the best third place finisher.

Group C looked the weakest group of this tournament consisting of Oscar, Stringer, Junior and Mr A. Junior who historically has patchy group form was still my pick to progress in first place from this group, but he could only manage third. A 3 – 0 thrashing by Mr A, 1 – 1 draw with Oscar and a narrow 1 – 0 win against Stringer left his tournament aspirations in tatters as it wasn’t enough to be the best third-place finisher. Another previous tournament winner out before the real fun starts. Mr A stayed unbeaten in the group drawing two blanks against Oscar and Stringer which was enough for him to top the group on five points. Oscar also finished unbeaten his 1 – 0 win against Stringer contributed to him also obtaining five points. Stringer propped up the group, but both Mr A and Oscar progressed.

The first game in the Quarter-Finals was Kent playing as Toulouse taking on TLLL who was Guingamp. Kent was playing in his second Quarter-Final in as many tournaments in this new era, but for TLLL this was a first knock-out game stretching back to 2013 if you count the old tournaments. TLLL took the lead in this game and Kent duly fought back missing two golden chances but putting away a third. TLLL reacted well and look to be on his way to an unprecedented victory when he took the lead in the 84th minute. However two minutes later Kent was level with a deflected strike leaving no choice but golden goal to settle this one. Early pressure from Kent proved fortuitous as a goal from a corner saw him through. Well done TLLL, a fine performance in the knock-outs against one of the best. Kent once again graces the Semi-Finals.

The next game saw current champion Tyke with Nantes taking on Boo who was playing as Rennes. As often seems to be the case a long-term knock absentee or debutant is pitted against a tough opponent and the task for Boo was dubbed by himself as ‘David v Goliath’. The match started evenly but eventually Tyke went 1 – 0 up. The task got even harder for Boo when Tyke got another just before half-time. The game went flat until late on when Boo pulled one back and almost took the game to golden goal missing a good opportunity. A valiant effort from Boo, pushed the champion by more than what was expected.

Greg with Bastia taking on Mr A with Dijon, this Quarter-Final was tipped to be very close with players finding it difficult to predict the victor. Greg was competing as usual in the knock-outs whilst Mr A reached the knock-outs for the second time in a row hoping to go one better than last tournaments effort. Got a patchy match report from this one, but at some point during the match Greg got a red card. The goals came late on with Greg scoring in the 82nd min and Mr A equalizing in the 88th min. As per the rules Greg needed two goals now in golden goal to progress whilst Mr A needed just one. However Greg dug deep in golden goal to become the first player in tournament history progress in golden goal when needing two goals, some achievement. Whilst Mr A improved on his last knock-out showing, it ultimately has to be disappointing to lose by golden goal in such a manner. Greg advances hoping to make more tournament history.

The last Quarter-Final was another tie that was hard to call, Andrei’s LOSC taking on Oscar who had Metz. Andrei a veteran who played in the very first Tyke Tournament was enjoying a successful tournament debut in the new era whilst Oscar was making a sporadic Quarter-Final appearance. Don’t know when the goals were scored but according to the match report given it was tale of two halves. Andrei dominated the first half and Oscar the second, ultimately it was the latter who got the goals winning 2 – 0. A solid if not spectacular return for Andrei, Oscar has become the tournament surprise package, from regular group stage fodder, to semi-finalist!

The first Semi-Final saw Kent take on Greg. Kent was contesting his second straight Semi-Final and hoping to go one better this time, whilst Greg after previously losing two Quarter-Finals in a row, makes his return to the last four. Greg was the one to open up the scoring in this match before a period of sustained Kent possession saw him equalize. Then Greg again quickly took the lead in the match. After that I don’t really know what happened, but the most important fact is Greg won 3 – 2. Both players gave contrasting opinions on who deserved to win this lively Semi-Final, but the fact is Greg reaches his second final and Kent’s return has yet to reach his expectations.

Next up was Tyke against the surprise package Oscar. Tyke failed twice in the league to beat Oscar and looking even further back doesn’t have the best tournament record against him, nevertheless not many would bet against me. The game started off well for Oscar he dominated possession and whilst he didn’t create many chances neither did Tyke. Just as the half ended his player headed in a perfectly floated cross. The lead didn’t last very long as straight away Tyke equalized at the start of the Second-half. This proved something of a turning point as Tyke got a foothold on the game and eventually took the lead. Oscar went looking for the equalizer, but wasn’t as polished as the Oscar in the first half and nearly conceded again at the end. Still he gave Tyke a scare and should be proud of his overall tournament performance. The champion has a shot at making history.

Here we go then the fifth final in Kami’s Tournaments features two players who have been here before. Tyke is contesting his third final having won the previous two, Greg is contesting his second final having lost to Hugo in that memorable Champions League Last 16 Tournament final. Greg and Tyke were in the same group with the latter winning 4 – 0 and many predicted that I would once again beat Greg, it was Bastia v Nantes. The game started well for Tyke who after making his way into Greg’s final third should’ve put away a closed ranged shot. The game evened out after that, but just before the first half was over Tyke’s winger turned striker broke through to make it 1 – 0. Greg didn’t buckle with the task facing him and on the 56th min he scored a nice equalizer and momentum was now with him. A dodgy ref decision not to give Greg a penalty was profited by Tyke who resisted Greg’s momentum and took the lead in the 75th min. Tyke had scares, but ultimately held firm to retain his title.

Well played Greg, a much better effort than the Group Stages match and on another day or with a better team you could’ve been the one with the title. However the facts are clear for everybody who participates in these tournaments to see. Tyke is three-time champion, the first to retain the title and number one in the rankings. Anybody who has aspirations of winning the title will most likely have to find a way past a player who has only been beaten once in normal time knock-outs. I look forward to future tournament challenges and I certainly want title number four. Next tournament will be the English Championship minus the bottom five teams from last season.