My Ligue 1: Éric Abidal

Abidal made his Ligue 1 Uber Eats debut with Monaco but he really made his name at Lille before making the move to Lyon in 2004, with whom he won three league titles before his 2007 transfer to Barcelona.

The Ligue 1 Show on beIN SPORTS caught up with the 67-time capped France international for a trip down memory lane.

Éric Abidal on…

… his best memory

"My first trophy with Olympique Lyonnais. It was my first league title; the atmosphere was insane at [Stade de] Gerland and I was very happy because I joined a club that had known success and I didn't bring any bad luck."

… his best match

"Lille against Paris Saint-Germain. A home win, the underdog beating the big boys! It was a fantastic team performance at a time when nobody expected us to perform."

… the best atmosphere he experienced

"Lyon, Gerland! And Marseille. At the Gerland, people supported me, at Marseille… no!"

… his best teammate

"Florent Malouda, no hesitation. He helped me improve, we enjoyed great success in Lyon together, with France too, and we continue to have a good relationship today. That proves that our coaches did well to bring us together."

… his toughest opponent

"Dijbril Cisse. He was incredibly fast! As luck had it, I was just as quick! I remember I had a rough patch at Lille, when I got back into contention, we played Auxerre, Claude Puel came to see me to ask if I was ready for the game, if I felt ready, because I was facing Djibril. I said yes, and we won, so good memories!"