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The 2016-17 Ligue 1 season saw AS Monaco crowned as champions in a superb campaign, as Leonardo Jardim’s men end Paris Saint-Germain’s four-year hold on the trophy.
It marked a stunning contrast to the season before with sub-plots and storylines gripping French football fans until the last. As it happened, there were fierce battles to claim not only the title, but also spots in the Champions League, Europa League and to avoid relegation with this being the first campaign to introduce relegation play-offs for the side in 18th.
CHANGES
Given the rather stale nature of the 2015-16 campaign, there were unsurprisingly some significant changes to personnel at the clubs in the close season. PSG continued their incessant transfer spending, bringing in Grzegorz Krychowiak, Jese and Hatem Ben Arfa among others. The trio were later supplemented by the signing of World Cup winner Julian Draxler and Argentine hotshot Giovani Lo Celso in the winter for a combined fee of €60 million.
Laurent Blanc, the three-time Ligue 1 winner with les Parisiens did not it make into the campaign, having been shelved by the Qatari leadership for his inability to land a Champions League trophy during his time in the capital. The former France international was replaced by Unai Emery on the bench.
Monaco continued with their ‘transfer-lite’ approach, signing young and inexpensively from across Europe. They bought highly-rated Benjamin Mendy for €15m from crisis-hit Marseille, with Kamil Glik and Djibril Sidibe also proving to be worthy additions to the side.
Marseille, meanwhile were in freefall. With owner Margarita Louis-Dreyfus refusing to bankroll the club, the board were forced to sell Mendy and Michy Batshuayi to plug a €30m hole in the budget. Reprieve was found in the last days of the transfer window when Frank McCourt, the former LA Dodgers owner and American businessman agreed a deal to buy the former European champions, who later signed four players – including fan favourite…
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/monaco-claim-first-league-triumph-in-17-years-ligue-1-in-2016-17/211
Author : [email protected] (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-07-31 16:00:00
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