Stat of the day
31 matches, 51 points
"Nice have 51 points after 31 matches in Ligue 1 in 2023/24, a record they have only bettered once in the 21st century - back in 2016/17 (67 - third at the end of the season)."
Delivered by Opta in the wake of the 1-3 win at Strasbourg, the stat highlights how precious the win in Alsace was for Francesco Farioli's men. The result puts them in fifth place on the Ligue 1 table with three games to go.
Since the club's return to the elite (2002-03 season), only the promotion campaign led by Lucien Favre in 2016-17 saw Les Aiglons do better.
FYI, Le Gym has reached this total of 51 points after 31 rounds on two other occasions in the 21st century: in 2021-22 (fifth-placed finish) and in 2012-13 (fourth-placed finish).
The 2015-16 team, led by Hatem Ben Arfa, had 50 points at that same stage of the season.
Remember that in all these previous seasons, Ligue 1 had 20 teams, as opposed to the current 18. This meant that the season consisted of 38 rounds, whereas the current campaign is divided into 34 chapters.