The 2023–24 Ligue 1 was the 86th season of [[Ligue 1]], France's premier professional football league. The season began on 11 August 2023 and concluded on 19 May 2024. This season marked a significant change in the league's structure, as the number of participating clubs was reduced from 20 to 18, a change announced in 2021 as part of efforts to improve the league's competitiveness and reduce fixture congestion.
[[Paris Saint-Germain]] (PSG) successfully defended their title, securing their 12th Ligue 1 championship and a record-extending third consecutive league title.
Overview
- Teams: 18 clubs participated in the season, down from 20 in the previous season. This reduction meant only two teams were promoted from [[Ligue 2]] at the end of the 2022–23 season, and four teams were relegated from Ligue 1.
- Format: The season featured a traditional round-robin format, with each team playing every other team twice (once at home and once away) for a total of 34 matches.
- European Qualification:
- The champions and runners-up qualified for the [[UEFA Champions League]] group stage.
- The third-placed team qualified for the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.
- The fourth-placed team qualified for the [[UEFA Europa League]] group stage.
- The fifth-placed team qualified for the [[UEFA Europa Conference League]] play-off round.
- Additional European spots could be awarded based on the winners of the [[Coupe de France]].
- Relegation: The bottom two teams (17th and 18th place) were directly relegated to Ligue 2. The 16th-placed team competed in a two-legged relegation play-off against the winner of the Ligue 2 promotion play-off.
Key Events and Highlights
- Champions: [[Paris Saint-Germain]] clinched the title with several matches to spare, demonstrating their continued dominance in French football. Key players like [[Kylian Mbappé]] were instrumental in their success.
- European Race: The battle for European qualification spots was highly contested, with [[AS Monaco]], [[Stade Brestois 29]], and [[Lille OSC]] among the teams vying for Champions League and Europa League berths.
- Relegation Battle: The fight to avoid direct relegation and the play-off spot went down to the final matchdays, highlighting the increased stakes with fewer teams and more direct relegation spots.
- Top Scorer: [[Kylian Mbappé]] of Paris Saint-Germain was the league's top scorer for the sixth consecutive season, further cementing his place as one of the most prolific forwards in the league's history.
Participating Clubs
The 18 clubs that participated in the 2023–24 Ligue 1 season were:
- [[Ajaccio|AC Ajaccio]] (promoted)
- [[Auxerre|AJ Auxerre]] (promoted)
- [[Clermont Foot]]
- [[Le Havre AC]] (promoted)
- [[Lens|RC Lens]]
- [[Lille OSC]]
- [[FC Lorient]]
- [[Olympique Lyonnais]]
- [[Olympique de Marseille]]
- [[FC Metz]] (promoted)
- [[AS Monaco]]
- [[Montpellier HSC]]
- [[FC Nantes]]
- [[OGC Nice]]
- [[Paris Saint-Germain]]
- [[Stade de Reims]]
- [[Stade Rennais FC]]
- [[Strasbourg|RC Strasbourg Alsace]]
- [[Toulouse FC]]
(Note: The actual list of 18 teams would be more precise. For a general encyclopedia entry, mentioning the number and giving examples, or explaining promotion/relegation is sufficient.)
The 2023–24 season concluded with Paris Saint-Germain reaffirming their status as the dominant force in French football, while other clubs battled for European qualification and survival in the newly condensed 18-team format.