Clermont’s win over PSG caps a brilliant season for Pascal Gastien

T he final standings in Ligue 1 may look familiar, save a bravura display from Lens, but there were still some surprises to be found this season. Toulouse impressed by winning the Coupe de France and staying up comfortably, as did the often swashbuckling Lorient and Montpellier. Reims turned heads across Europe as their young manager, Will Still, put together a 19-match unbeaten run. But for keen observers of Ligue 1, perhaps the biggest surprise came at the Parc des Princes on Saturday, when Clermont Foot 63 defeated the champions.

Whereas Lens and Reims benefited from strong investment (by Ligue 1 standards), Toulouse had plenty of continuity in their playing staff, and Montpellier’s happy reunion with Michel der Zakarian was unsurprising given he had nearly taken the club to Europe in recent seasons, Clermont had none of this – just a canny, veteran manager in Pascal Gastien.

Gastien had a distinguished playing career in France, making more than 300 before going on to manage Niort, a team from western France who have played just one season of top-flight football in their existence. He did well with the club, coming second in the third-tier Championnat National and earning promotion to Ligue 2. Despite avoiding relegation with Niort in successive seasons, he was dismissed in 2014 and, after a forgettable spell at Chateauroux, it seemed there would be little special to come from his managerial career.

However, he was appointed to run Clermont’s reserves in 2016 and, within a year, he was the senior team’s manager. After a few years of steady improvement, he guided the club to second place in Ligue 2 in 2021, securing promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history. That first season in Ligue 1 proved a