Triumphant Blanc turns eyes to Europe

Laurent Blanc is already looking to next season and success in European competition after his FC Girondins de Bordeaux side sealed the club's sixth Ligue 1 championship on the last day of the campaign.

Lyon reign ended
It was a late, record-breaking surge that gave Bordeaux the title, Blanc's side finishing three points clear of long-time pacesetters Olympique de Marseille after only moving into top spot on 16 May. Les Marine et Blanc won their last eleven games – a first in the French top flight – to wrest the top honours away from Olympique Lyonnais, champions for the last seven seasons.

'Cool head'
Already considered one of France's best ever centre-backs, the 43-year-old Blanc has now made his mark as a coach, becoming the first trainer to win the trio of Ligue 1, the Super Cup and League Cup in only his second season in charge. "Credit has to go to the cool head of Laurent Blanc," said club president Jean-Louis Triaud. The last time Bordeaux dropped points was on 7 March – a 3-0 loss at Toulouse FC – and Triaud praised Blanc for the team's subsequent run of wins. "He managed to keep the players focused after that setback and they turned disappointment into motivation."

Player power
After Yohan Gouffran scored the only goal of their final game at SM Caen to secure the title, Blanc played down his own role in the triumph. "As a player you're an actor on the stage; as a coach you don't have that much influence," said Blanc, who won the FIFA World Cup in 1998 and UEFA EURO 2000™ as a player. "A coach is nothing without his players. You must look after them and it's good if they reciprocate a bit too. That's what happened this season – the squad were amazing."

European goal
Between the public broadcast of the game on Saturday night to the official celebrations on Sunday afternoon, 100,000 fans flocked to the Place des Quinconces in Bordeaux city centre to hail their heroes. Blanc, who won the Premier League with Manchester United FC in 2002/03, said he was inspired by the methods of Sir Alex Ferguson and after a first season in the UEFA Champions League ended in the group stage last autumn he is now looking to improve on the continental stage. "To advance to the first knockout round would be a good target," he said.

Bright future
The future certainly looks bright with Player of the Year Yoann Gourcuff signing on a permanent deal from AC Milan. Striker Marouane Chamakh, who had said he would leave this summer, offered a change of heart following the title triumph saying "it looks like I might stay" while other key players are looking to progress under Blanc as Bordeaux aim to add European success to their domestic prizes.