As the curtains fell on the 2015-16 Ligue 1 season on May 14, 2016, an utterly dominant Paris Saint-Germain looked down upon the rest of the league, a massive 31 points separating them from Lyon in 2nd position. The title had, in fact, been won two months ago, with a 9-0 win at Troyes, in the process ensuring that the title remained in Paris for the fourth consecutive season.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic finished as the top scorer with a massive tally of 38 goals, light years ahead of Lyon's Lacazette with 21. Articles were written, opinions flew about; people mourned the dearth of competition in Ligue 1 – PSG was held as the symbol of the age of super rich clubs in world football.
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Therefore when, in the summer, it was decided to replace Laurent Blanc with Unai Emery, not many football fans batted an eye – after all, in public perception, it hardly mattered any longer who was in charge of PSG as long as the owners remained the same. The departure of Ibrahimovic was greeted with far more importance, and yet, even in that case, there was a nagging feeling that Ibrahimovic may have been past his best and on the way to China or US.
Yet seven months later, PSG finds itself in a three-horse race for the title – what might have been thought impossible has come true, with AS Monaco and OGC Nice enjoying exemplary runs of form in the first half of the season, exacerbated by PSG due to their own modest showing. At the time of writing, PSG finds itself three points behind Monaco and have OGC Nice breathing down its neck.
So what has happened in France? Here we take a look at how Monaco and Nice are breaking the monopoly in Ligue 1:
AS Monaco
24 matches, 70 goals scored. No, we are not talking about FIFA 17 Career mode in Amateur difficulty level – this is the tally AS Monaco FC has managed in 2016-17 Ligue 1 till date. It gets even more interesting – the club top scorer Falcao (14 goals) is well behind PSG's Edinson Cavani (23), but PSG's overall tally of 47 goals pales in comparison to Monaco's free-scoring exploits.
It is unprecedented for a team with such high goal scoring stats not to boast even a single player with 20 goals – it just shows what a remarkable team effort it has been.
(Video Courtesy: WorldOfFootballHD YouTube Channel)
Announcing themselves to world football with the signings of James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho in the summer of 2013, it seemed only a matter of time before Monaco would give PSG sleepless nights. When, a week later, the signing of Radamel Falcao from Atletico Madrid was announced, it seemed the jigsaw was complete. However, Monaco has had to be patient – but faith in coach Leonardo Jardim is finally starting to pay off.
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In May 2014, owner Dmitry Rybolovlev was ordered by a Swiss court to pay over $4.5 billion to his former wife Elena as divorce settlement. Understandably, Monaco's financial project was hit hard – club CEO Vadim Vasilyev admitted that spending would be reduced and the project approached from a long-term point of view.
However, after two seasons away from the spotlight, Monaco have clawed themselves back to media attention for all the right reasons – although, perhaps, through a different route than would initially have been expected of them.
When Tottenham Hotspur was knocked out by Monaco, Premier League fans ridiculed the London club's characteristically underwhelming display in Europe. When, Manchester City were drawn against Monaco, there was a tangible sigh of relief from everyone associated with the club. Well, underestimate Monaco at your own risk – but Claudio Bravo, for one, will definitely be on his toes.
OGC Nice
17th to 11th to 4th to title contention – that's the story of the last 4 seasons of OGC Nice Football Club in a nutshell. With very modest financial power compared to Monaco and PSG, Nice have established themselves over the last couple of seasons with astute acquisitions – in particular, by giving second chances to players who had lost their way after being considered potentially world class at some stage in their career.
The stint at Liverpool was widely mooted as the last chance at elite level for a talented yet untamed Mario Balotelli – and after 7 goals over 2 seasons for Liverpool and Milan (on loan), it was adjudged that the troublesome Italian's career was finally over. Former coaches, pundits and fellow players alike lamented the premature demise of a potentially world class striker. Liverpool, after months of touting him around, finally managed to offload him to Nice on a free transfer, albeit with a buyback clause.
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Yet Balotelli, embodying the spirit of the club itself, has defied all expectations – with a resurgence that has fuelled talk of a potential return to the Italian national team. Like Ben Arfa before him, Balotelli has made the most of a low pressure environment with a team centred around his qualities.
Nice has developed quite a reputation for reviving careers – one can imagine a disillusioned Memphis Depay might have chosen the French club to revive his career after the disastrous spell at Manchester United, if only they had the financial means to pull the deal off.
Looking ahead
Only time will tell whether Monaco's team of flamboyant free scorers and Nice's assortment of cut-price overachievers can keep up with the monstrous financial muscle of PSG over the next few years. It is unlikely that a club of PSG's stature would lie down meekly and accept defeat – if at all the Paris club were to miss out on the title this season, expect wholesale changes at the managerial, and perhaps even boardroom level.
Unai Emery has found success in league format much harder to come by than in cup competitions – but with time, he may yet mould this PSG side to conquer France as well as Europe.
But at least for this season, Monaco and Nice have ensured that PSG will have to sweat it out all the way through if they are to achieve success. With far less competitive title races ensuing in the other top European leagues (England – Chelsea, Spain – Real Madrid, Italy – Juventus, Germany – Bayern), France has attracted the attention of the globe with the unlikeliest of title races – long may it continue, all the way till the final day of the season.
