Testing times for elite French clubs

French football packs up for its two-week winter break tomorrow with its flagship clubs in a mini-crisis. The super-rich are no longer having things entirely their own way.

Financially France has the most skewed league in Europe. Paris Saint-Germain are the only club of significance in one of the richest cities in the world and have the backing of an entire oil-rich state.

Monaco are part of a state within a state, enjoying an unique tax-free status.