With their 3-0 win at Angers on Sunday, OGC Nice took their season's tally to 17 points, a mark rarely achieved in the opening nine league games of a season in the 21st century.

Fourth in the Ligue 1 table following their return from Angers, the Aiglons are off to a flying start. Only Paris (21 points), Lille (19) and Rennes (18) are ahead of them after the club's second-best start in the last 20 seasons. During the 2016/17 season, Lucien Favre's men had 23 points after nine games (7 wins, 2 draws). Top of the table at that stage of the season, they eventually finished third to qualify for the Champions League.

17 POINTS LIKE IN 2002/03

In 2002/03, Le Gym's comeback season in Ligue 1 after a six-year absence, the Rouge-et-Noir also had 17 points from their first nine matches (5 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats).

Gernot Rohr's squad, which boasted the league's best defence (5 goals conceded), were second to AJ Auxerre (20 points) before finally finishing tenth.

---