Swashbuckling Monaco end 17-year French title wait
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Article summary
Leonardo Jardim's exciting young Monaco side, who have scored 104 top-flight goals this season, beat St-Étienne 2-0 on Wednesday to win their first Ligue 1 title in 17 years.
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- Next season's Champions League group stage as it stands
- Europe's reigning champions and domestic cup holders
How they won it
Aside from a brief spell at the summit early in the season, Monaco had to wait until matchweek 20 to lead Ligue 1 in earnest, following a 4-1 win in Marseille. Bursting with youthful talent and energy, they are in the midst of a hugely impressive 19-game unbeaten run in the league – winning 17 – while concurrently making it all the way to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Paris have done well to keep up for this long.
Key number: 3
Monaco have scored three or more goals in 19 of their 37 top-flight matches this season, finding the net 104 times in total in Ligue 1. What's more, they have lost just three times throughout the campaign.
The opposition
Initially, Lucien Favre's Nice – the only league opponents to claim a clean sheet against Monaco this term – were the surprise pacesetters, with deposed champions Paris slowly going through the gears as the season unfolded.
Make it a double?
Paris may not have been able to keep pace with Monaco in Ligue 1, but the capital club did knock Leonardo Jardim's team out of both domestic cup competitions. They beat Monaco 4-1 in the French League Cup final in April and also ousted them from the French Cup semi-finals, their 5-0 victory coming against a much-changed principality side.
Room for improvement
Reaching the top is one thing, staying there is a different proposition entirely. Will Monaco be able to retain their swathe of exciting young talents? If they can, while also adding depth to their squad, ASM should be able to compete on all fronts in 2017/18.
Biggest win: 7-0 v Metz
Biggest loss: 4-0 v Nice
Top scorer: Radamel Falcao (21)