The clash of big spenders in the French league finished even as Paris Saint-Germain drew 1-1 at home against Monaco on Sunday and missed the chance to replace their title rivals at the top of the standings.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave PSG an early lead with a spectacular finish and Radamel Falcao responded with a fine poacher’s effort as two of the best strikers in the world cancelled each other out in a match that started at a frenetic pace before fizzling out in the second half.
“Given the amount of chances we had I think we deserved to win,” PSG coach Laurent Blanc said. “It was a good match and there could have been more goals. What pleased me is that both coaches wanted to win the game.”
Monaco, who spent even more money than PSG in the off-season, remain two points clear of PSG, who lead third-place Saint-Etienne on goal difference.
“I’m very satisfied with my players,” Monaco coach Claude Ranieri said. “I was very curious before the match to see how my team would play. PSG have a lot of quality players and they have more experience than us. We have a lot of young players and we were up against a team with a lot of big champions.”
Elsewhere, Lyon beat Nantes 3-1, Nice thrashed Valenciennes 4-0 and Lorient drew 3-3 with Bordeaux.
Owned by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, Monaco spent about 170 million euros ($230 million) this summer. PSG, bankrolled by Qatar Sports Investments, splashed out 114 million euros ($154 million), having spent more than that last season.