Four years ago, one team shocked the world. AS Monaco dethroned Paris-Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 and stormed to the semi-finals of the Champions League. In the midst of the 2020/21 Champions League Round of 16, let’s look at what became of the Monaco team that beat Manchester City this time four years ago,
Monaco Revisited
From Ligue 1 to Premier League Glory
Looking at the team-sheets across Monaco’s 6-6 aggregate success, three names are immediately recognisable to Premier League fans.
After beating Manchester City, two players made their way to Manchester in the following year. Yes, Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy were two of the key players for Monaco in 2016/17, but sometimes, in football, the best way to impress a team is to beat them. Clearly, this was the case for Pep Guardiola.
The other big name is none other than Fabinho. Yes, the midfield lynchpin that we currently see at Liverpool was a goal-scorer in the second leg. Fabinho and his midfield partner who will be mentioned were lauded for their ability to dominate and run games. It’s fair to say that Liverpool got exactly what they hoped they would. Fabinho has been every part the player fans expected, and maybe a bit more.
Less glorious in the Premier League are two other names. Indeed, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Djibril Sidibe did not enjoy their stays quite so much. Bakayako did not capture the hearts of Chelsea fans in the 2017/18 season, nor did Sibide thrill at Everton in 2019/20.
At the time, one could not have imagined quite how many of that Monaco team would make their way over to England, let alone the success that they would go on and enjoy.
A Longer Stay in France- Not Always at Monaco
Let’s talk Kylian Mbappe. After storming onto the scene in 2016/17, his rise to stardom has continued. Mbappe opted to stay in France, making the jump across to rivals PSG. Fast forward four years and Mbappe is now considered one of the best players in the world, with the potential to dominate the near future.
Without a doubt, Mbappe in hindsight, is the star of the team, having done well to meet and exceed any expectations immediately imagined in 2017.
For many others, the last few years have been less exciting. Many players enjoyed more years at Monaco. Jemerson stayed until 2020, Andrea Raggi until 2019, Kamil Glik until 2020, and Danijel Subasic until 2020 too.
Whilst somewhat less flashy, these players made up the defensive backbone of the team. For Subasic and Raggi this was the end of the line, neither have found nor sought a club since leaving.
The odd one out of the players to stay in France was striker Valere Germain. Germain spent made the trip to Marseille, where he has stayed since 2017. Not everyone got a fairytale move in the end.
The Odd One’s Out
Only two have gone further afield since. Radamel Falcao landed at Galatasaray in 2019 where he has stayed since. Falcao if anything had his most exciting years leading up to this spell at Monaco. Aside from his jaunts to Manchester United and more bizarrely Chelsea, Falcao will be best remembered for his time at Atletico Madrid. Monaco likely provided the last hurrah for his career.
Jemerson quite simply returned home to Brazil. After half a decade at Monaco, Jemerson left for Corinthians.
Not everyone got their star turn after Monaco, but a healthy number certainly did. Indeed, Monaco’s 2016/17 team will likely be well remembered as a team that surprised the world of football. In hindsight, it boasted a brilliant squad of players, many of whom have gone on to enjoy further success.
Main Photo
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