With a tight title race developing in France, two of the contenders go toe to toe this weekend as Paris St Germain host Lyon at the Parc des Princes.
Lyon won seven titles on a roll after their maiden success in 2002 before first Bordeaux, then Marseille and Lille came along and bested the easterners, while PSG's long wait for what would only be a third crown extends all the way back to 1994.
Both sides have made bright starts to this campaign, garnering 17 points from their opening eight matches to share the leadership with Toulouse.
Now they go head to head in what should be one of the top matches of the season to date.
Lyon warmed up with Bafetimbi Gomis and Bakary Kone both netting in Tuesday's 2-0 success over Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in the club's 100th Champions League game to keep in touch with Group D leaders Real Madrid.
More than a decade of Champions League cash has enabled Lyon to consolidate their position at the forefront of the French game while PSG, flush with Qatari money, are only now beginning to emerge from recent slumbers.
Lyon coach Remi Garde will hope to see Yoann Gourcuff and Lisandro Lopez back from injury, though Michel Bastos and Gomis have proved able deputies.
Sunday's test will be a huge one, though, as PSG showed with last weekend's 3-0 swatting of in-form Montpellier that they are bent on staking a proper title claim this year as the likes of Javier Pastore settle down in the capital.
Elsewhere, Marseille are also in action Sunday, in their case at home to a Brest side which has yet to record a league win this term.
Marseille themselves have only netted one in a poor start which leaves them 10 points off the leading teams - but confidence is on the rise after two wins in Champions League over Olympiakos and then German champions Borussia Dortmund.
Champions Lille, who have managed only two draws to date in the Champions League and may face a struggle to reach the next phase, divert their attention to retaining their domestic crown with a potentially awkward home meeting Saturday against Rennes.
Lille have developed a habit of drawing matches they should win - not just in Europe, where they let slip leads both against CSKA Moscow and Trabzonspor, but in the league, Joe Cole's first goal not quite enough to see off Lorient last weekend as the Bretons netted a last-gasp leveller.
Those dropped points left the champions just sixth and four points off the pace.
Montpellier will have to regroup after last week's home defeat with a result at a Bordeaux side who, like Marseille, have recorded a solitary win so far as the Girondins have struggled to forge a new path since 2009 title-winning coach Laurent Blanc decamped to the French national job.
Elsewhere, Lorient and Caen will fancy themselves at home to struggling Valenciennes and Nice respectively as the Bretons and Normans both target the top four.
Fixtures:
Saturday
Sochaux v Toulouse, Dijon v Ajaccio, Caen v Nice, Lorient v Valenciennes, St Etienne v Auxerre, Nancy v Evian (all 1700 GMT; Bordeaux v Montpellier (1900 GMT)
Sunday
Lille v Rennes, Marseille v Brest, (1500 GMT); Paris SG v Lyon (1900)
Source: AFP
