French football fans don't have to wait long, as the upcoming Ligue 1 season is set to begin in a few days. Last season's campaign ended rather abruptly and saw PSG crowned champions early, and everyone will be hoping to have a full season this time around as other teams will be hoping to mount a full challenge agianst Les Parisiens for the coveted title.
Here's the upcoming September fixture list for the 2020/2021 Ligue 1 season. Of course, given we now live in a world that has been disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this naturally could change at any time. As of now, however, matchday one will start on Friday, August 21, 2020.
What's the opening schedule set to look like? Are all the games being played on the same day?
No. Unlike other leagues, like in Serie A, which has all ten fixtures being played on one day (Sunday) on matchday one, Ligue 1's opening matchday will see games played across several days.
Matchday one kicks off at 13:00 ET (10:00 PT) on Friday, August 21. On Saturday, August 22, there will be two more matches, and on Sunday, August 23, there will be four games played.
It's important to note that matchday one will only have seven games played in total. That's because three matches have been postponed for several reasons. PSG and Lyon's games will be played at a later date due to the two sides' participation in the latter stages of the Champions League, while Marseille and Saint-Etienne's clash, which was supposed to be played on the 21st, has also been postponed and will be played later in the season.
Matchday two will start on Friday, August 28 at 15:00 ET (12:00 PT), with Lyon finally getting their Ligue 1 campaign underway as they host Dijon, and concludes on Thursday, September 10th as PSG open their own domestic season with a road clash against Lens at 15:00 ET (12:00 PT).
Matchday three runs from Friday, September 11 through Sunday, Septmber 13. The highlight of this round will be Le Classique, featuring PSG and Marseille, which takes place on September 13 at 15:00 ET (12:00 PT).
After this, PSG, Lyon, and Marseille all have to play some make up matches between Tuesday, September 15, and Thursday, September 17.
Once this is over, all the teams will be back on equal footing in terms of matchdays played, and matchday four starts on Friday, September 18, and finishes on Sunday, September 20.
And matchday five begins the following Friday, September 25, and wraps up the following Sunday, September 27.
When is the season expected to conclude?
If everything goes according to plan, the 2020/2021 Ligue 1 season will end on Sunday, May 23, 2021.
What times will the games begin on Friday, August 21?
The first game gets underway at 13:00 ET (10:00 PT) with Bordeaux welcoming Nantes. Saturday's fixtures start at 11:00 ET (8:00 PT) and end at 15:00 ET (10:00 PT), and Sunday will have games from 7:00 ET (4:00 PT) till 11:00 ET (8:00 PT).
What broadcasters will be showing the games if I live in the USA, Canada, or in the UK?
If you live in the USA, beIN Sports USA is one option you can choose to follow your favorite Ligue 1 side throughout the season. Spanish speaking fans can check out beIN Sports en Español. For fans who speak French, TV5 Monde provides coverage of one Ligue 1 match each weekend.
Live-streaming is available via beIN Sports CONNECT and via the TV5 Monde app.
FuboTV is also available and will live-stream hundreds of games during the course of the season as they work closely with beIN Sports USA.
Fans based in Canada can check out beIN Sports Canada for TV broadcasts and beIN Sports CONNECT Canada for live-streaming.
And finally, Ligue 1 followers who call the UK home can select BT Sport and its family of platforms, which includes BT Sport 1 and BT Sport 2. For live streaming, check out the BTSport App and BTSport.com.
Matchday one schedule - starts on Friday, August 21
For additional fixtures and schedules, check out our bespoke Ligue 1 match page.
Here's the schedule for matchday one:
