T
H
E
B
R
EA
K
D
O
W
N CUPFINAL
Aswas common
thisseason,Nice
werestumpedby
a well-organised
defenceina tense
finalagainstNantes
whotooka battling
1-0 winviaa Ludovic
Blaspenalty– the
club’s first trophysince
the 200 1 Ligue1 title
anda monumental
achievementgiven
theirresources.
EUROPEAN
QUALIFIERS
PSGandMarseille
maketheChampions
Leaguegroupstage,
Monacowillcontest
thequalifierswhile
cupwinnersNantes
andRenneswill
playEuropaLeague
football.Nicewillbe
a very competitive
EuropaConference
Leagueside.
RELEGATEDAND
PROMOTEDTEAMS
MetzjoinBordeauxin
Ligue2 despite a late
surge,whileToulouse
return as second-tier
championsaftertwo
yearsaway, with
Ajacciofollowingin
second.Auxerre
returnedtothetop
flightafter beating
Saint-Etienneinthe
play-offs.
PLAYEROF
THESEASON
CarryingPSG,
thiswastheyear
KylianMbappe
trulyascendedto
theveryhighest level.
Hismaturity,effortless
qualityandthe fact
thathealwaysseems
tohaveanextragear
sawhimendthe
seasonastheworld’s
leadingplayer.
Despairandjubilationwereoddly
invertedat thetopof Ligue 1 this
season.For championsParisSaint-
Germain,theirtenthtitle(ajoint
record),underwhelmed.Dreams of
LionelMessicombining withKylian
MbappeandNeymartoproduce
flowing,continent-beatingfootball
werenever realised,whilePSG’s latest
ChampionsLeaguecapitulationtoa
16 -minuteKarimBenzemahat-trick
inMadriddefinedtheiryear.
Oftenfortunatetosnatchmore
pointsthantheydeserved,PSGnever
trulyconvinceddomestically andwere
carriedbyMbappewhobecamethe
first playertotopboththegoal(28)
andassist ( 17 ) chartsinLigue1.Itwas
Mbappe’sstrongest seasontodate.
Asidefromhisprolificnumbers,the
23-year-oldplayedwithunerring
consistencyandauthority, andwas
usuallycomfortablythestandout
player inanyPSGgame,despite
theillustrious company.
PSG’s most meaningfultriumph
cameasMbappesurprisinglyagreeda
newthree-yearcontractafter a seasonof
speculationover hisfuture,havingasked
toleavefor RealMadridlastsummer.
Sweepinghierarchical changesare
expectedtofollow,withMbappelikely
towieldconsiderablepowerwithinthe
club.SportingdirectorLeonardohas
alreadybeenreplacedbyfamedtransfer
whispererLuisCampos, andheadcoach
MauricioPochettinocouldsoonexittoo.
BehindPSG,however, theseasonwas
ChampionsLeaguefailingsandKylian
Mbappe’scontractovershadowdomestic
leaguetitlefortheParisiangiants
a high-octane,joyousandcompetitive
thriller. Everythingbarthetitlewas
decidedonthefinalday. Therewere
wildcelebrationsattheVelodromeas
Marseilletooksecond–andwithit,
qualificationfor theChampionsLeague
groupstage–thankstoa 96th-minute
equaliserforLensagainstrivalsMonaco,
after OMhadbothseeminglysecured
andthrownawaytherunners-upspot in
theprecedingweeks.JorgeSampaoli’s
constantlyevolvingmethodsdon’talways
coalescebuthisnuanced,finelybalanced
set-upsmakeMarseillea slippery,yet
surprisinglystoic,proposition.Ajumping
Velodromewillbea trickyEuropean
awaytripnextseason.
Despitetheseeminglyself-defeating
sackingofNikoKovacmid-season,
Monacoeventuallyfoundtheright
formulaunderformerClubBrugge
bossPhilippeClementandrallied
towinnineconsecutivegameswhich
hadthemsecondbeforethefinal
day.Althoughmidfieldorchestrator
AurelienTchouameniwillleavethis
summer, Monacowill beamajor
threatoncemorenext seasonunder
Clement–if they canmakethe
rightmovesinthewindow.
Fourth-placedRenneswere
unfortunatetomissoutonthe
podiumhavingbeenLigue1’s leading
entertainersthroughouttheseason.
Theirpacy,fluidstylesawBruno
GenesionamedCoachoftheYear
bytheplayer’s union,andcreateda
numberofstarsintheprocess,such
asballeticmidfieldcreatorLovro
JoylessPSGreturn
tothetopofLigue 1
46 WORLDSOCCER
Final-daydrama...
Lensforward
Ignatius Ganago
celebratesscoring
againstMonaco
TEAMOFTHESEASON
NunoMendes
(PSG)
NayeR(f Aenngueres)d TcAurehouamenilien
Monao)
Jean-ClairTodibo
(Nice)
SekoFofana
(Len
JonathanClauss
(Lens)
Te(MjionSavatpellinierer)KylianSMbappeG)
Benjamin
Bourigeaud
(Rennes)
AlbanLafont
(ntes)
ADAMWHITE
FRANCE
DimitriPayet
(Marseille)
