Historic French duo in fight for Ligue 1 survival

Saint-Etienne and Bordeaux have won a combined 16 French league titles, but two of French football's most successful clubs find themselves rooted in a deep malaise and facing the grim prospect of relegation this season.

Beset by financial difficulties aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic and accusations of mismanagement, Saint-Etienne and Bordeaux occupy the bottom two spots in Ligue 1 with just five wins between them.

French champions a record 10 times, Saint-Etienne's dominance of the 1960s and 1970s is a distant memory. Les Verts also reached the 1976 European Cup final but a financial scandal sent the club into free-fall in the 1980s.

That decline coincided with Bordeaux's return to prominence during a decade in which they lifted three league trophies. The golden period was to end though with administrative relegation in 1991 over huge debts.

Bordeaux earned immediate promotion back to the top tier the following season, and have since claimed two more Ligue 1 titles -- in 1999 and 2009.

But the club has been drifting on the field for some time and was placed into administration last year after its US-based owners King Street pulled the plug on their investment.

Les Girondins flirted with relegation before winning their last two games to stay up, but their safety was not assured until former Lille owner Gerard Lopez completed a takeover of the club in July.

Renewed optimism has quickly faded and coach Vladimir Petkovic is fighting for his job going into this weekend's game with Strasbourg.

Petkovic, who led Switzerland to the Euro 2020 quarter-finals, last week received public backing from Lopez but then watched his team capitulate 6-0 at Rennes -- their heaviest Ligue 1 loss since 1986.

Thierry Henry is reportedly being