The second phase of the U19 challenge resumes this Sunday, January 17, and it seems that the same trio of favorites than D1 is formed: Lyon, Paris and Montpellier. This status for the three teams is to be taken into account in view of the performances of the first phase and the recent past of the three teams in the final phase. However Juvisy or Arras could well act as outsider and come to create the surprise.
Before moving to a 36-team U19 championship next season, this 30-team U19 2015-2016 challenge will be awarded two champions: the U19 elite champion and the U19 excellence champion.

A favorite trio led by OL
Titled for two seasons, Olympique Lyonnais is once again a favorite of his own estate. With eight wins in eight games, a fire attack (47 goals) and a difference of +43, the Rhodaniennes impress and as in D1 monopolize the three steps of the classification of scorers in their group (Badache, Boutaleb, Laurier). Behind them, the Stéphanoises easily qualify in front of Yzeure but should not play the first place of the group B in the OL or Montpellier. The MHSC; most titled club with three seals; should indeed be the main competitor of the Lyonnaises. Second in 2015, the Héraultaises grapple with the stats Rhone with eight wins in as many games, and a goal ratio of +41 (and the podium goals group D).
In group A, Paris Saint-Germain is a favorite. The only club in the group to have participated in the finals last season, the club of the capital can count on players like Perle Morroni and Anissa Lahmari who have already played in D1, even if the Parisian coach Pierre-Yves Bodineau recognizes a lack of experience, "we must also admit that our main rivals still have more experience and advance in the management and preparation of these different final phases U19 female."
In the underdogs, Arras seems to have suffered the loss of several players to his team this season, Juvisy and Guingamp seeming to be the most legitimate to compete with the club of the capital. Both clubs have the advantage of having played a first phase more homogeneous, Guingamp bowing besides during the 9th day against his dolphin (La Roche 1-0 Guingamp), Juvisy to fight against Vendenheim and Metz until 'at the last day (Juvisy 2-2 Metz, Vendenheim 8-0 St Maur), the Grenats leaving their rivals Alsatian accompany the Juv'.

Medium-term ambitions
Of the six teams discovering the U19 challenge, only one has managed to get into the elite: Olympique Marseille. For the rest, they want to first improve their structures before thinking to aim at the top of the table. The Stade de Reims which is the first season in D2 among the A has a medium-term project and did not set specific goals for the first phase, also difficult for Saint-Maur to play the top of the table when the internal situation is tense, or for Nivolas-Vermelle which owes its presence to Monteux package early in the season. Among the favorites are therefore Toulouse (out of the first two places on the last day), Metz (finishing near Juvisy and Vendenheim) or Hénin-Beaumont (only team to have scored in two games against PSG during the phase go).

For its sixth year, the challenge U19 is still in progress and its passage of 30 to 36 teams next season testifies. Many irregularities still exist in this championship and the ambitions diverge if one calls Lyon or Nivolas, Juvisy or Reims but everything seems to show us that a beautiful show awaits us on June 5 for the finals elite and excellence of this season 2015-2016.

Adrien Bray