Friendly Roundup: The Week in Ligue 1
With the return of Ligue 1 McDonald's nearing, clubs are ramping up preparations for the upcoming season, with many in action over the past week. Read on for our recap of all of the past week's action.
Rowe powers OM
Marseille, who last season finished runners-up to eventual champions PSG, drew with Spanish side Valencia. Jonathan Rowe, fresh from winning the U21 Euros with England, was the scorer for OM in a 1-1 draw.
Monaco, meanwhile, faced Torino twice in two days at their Performance Centre in La Turbie. The Principality club won the first game, on Wednesday. Mika Biereth, who was prolific in the second-half of last season, netting 13 goals in Ligue 1 McDonald's in just 16 matches, was on the scoresheet. Lamine Camara and Aleksandr Golovin also netted in a 3-1 win. Monaco won the second game, held a day later, by the same scoreline. Folarin Balogun, Kassoum Ouattara, and Christian Mawissa netted as Adi Hütter heavily rotated his side but still secured the win against their Italian opposition.
6 matches unbeaten in preseason! ❤️🤍 pic.twitter.com/Q3t3HUUrdo
— AS Monaco EN 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco_EN) August 1, 2025
Nice closed out the top four in Ligue 1 McDonald's last season. Their fourth-place finish secured them a place in the preliminary rounds of the UEFA Champions League, and so their season officially gets underway against Benfica in the third of Champions League qualifying on 6th August. They prepared for that important encounter with a slender victory over Championship side Sheffield United. Morgan Sanson and Terem Moffi, both of whom missed much of last season through injury, were on the scoresheet in a 3-2 win for Les Aiglons. It was an own goal from Sheffield United's Harrison Burrows late on that proved the difference between the two sides.
Lyon also have a European campaign to play for and they comfortably dispatched Mallorca (4-0). Georges Mikautadze, who will lead the line this season, following Alexandre Lacazette's departure, Abner, and Khalis Merah all netted. Strasbourg will also compete in European competition this season, but their preparations continued with a 2-1 loss to Udinese. New signing Joaquín Panichelli got the only goal for Liam Rosenior's youthful side.
After Hamburg, our Gones secured another victory with a score of 4 goals to 0, this time against RCD Mallorca! 💥
0-4 #RCDMOL pic.twitter.com/UxHO5bsNJj— Olympique Lyonnais 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@OL_English) July 30, 2025
Toulouse also tasted defeat, against Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr. Yann Gboho got the goal for Le TéFéCé as Ronaldo also got on the scoresheet. Elsewhere, there were wins for the newly promoted sides. Paris FC swept aside Swiss side Sion (3-1) thanks to goals from Adama Camara, Kâmil Elkit, and El Hadary Raheriniaina scored for Les Parisiens as they prepare for life in the top-flight.
Metz also came out on top in a goalfest against lower-tier opposition. Ibou Sané and Idrissa Gueye both netted braces, whilst Kevin Van Den Kerkhof also scored in a 5-3 win over US Thionville-Lusitanos. There was also a win for Brest against Le Havre, with Kamory Doumbia netting the only goal in a 1-0 win. Pierre Sage's Lens also beat Wolverhampton Wanderers thanks to goals from Wesley Saïd and Deiver Machado.
Finally, Christophe Pélissier's Auxerre saw out a 0-0 draw against Ligue 2 side Grenoble Foot as both sides step up their preparations for the coming season, which kicks off in less than two weeks time, when Rennes face Marseille in Ligue 1 McDonald's.
Read more:
