The Famous Triumph Of AS Monaco [2016/17]

About four years ago, french club AS Monaco had a miraculous season. Coached by Leonardo Jardim, and captained by the famous Radamel Falcao, this team pulled of wonders that season. They won the french Ligue 1 ending the four season dominance of Paris Saint Germain. Well was it a fluke or was it not, quite a debate. But to give leverage on one side stands their record in that season's UEFA champions league.

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This club at that time had a rejuvenation. A lot of young players, looking for a rebuild. Usually the expectations aren't too high in these situations. A champions league spot is considered a very good result in these cases, along with a respectable group stage crash or a round of 16, and trial of luck in the cup competitions. But this was something different. Nobody saw this team coming so hard. Players of that roester are in different places now. Radamel Falcao is in Galatasaray, Danijel Subasic is clubless, Benjamin Mendy and Bernardo Silva are in Manchester City, Tiemoue Bakayoko is in Napoli after a horrendous PL spell with Chelsea. While Fabinho looking good in the same league with Liverpool. And so too Joao Moutinho in Wolverhampton. While Thomas Lemar is in Atletico Madrid. Yes, after that season's performance all the big clubs went rage mode and bought most of the prospects.

One name misses out from the upper list. Kylian Mbappe. Back then a 17 year old kid, had the world at his feet. Breaking age records left right and center. His partnership with Falcao was formidable. They scored a total of 36 league goals combined. But there team performance was eye catching. Scored a league high 107 goals that season, 24 more than Paris Saint Germain. Also they were undefeated in their last 20 Ligue 1 games which made their road easy for the title. Though they got the league they couldn't win the cup competitions and fell short to Paris.

Monaco's team play was also in display in the champions league. There group consisted of Bayer Leverkusen, Tottenham Hotspur and CSKA Moscow. Rather strong teams comparing to what Monaco was on paper. Though they got past the group without any major problems. But in the round of 16 they faced Manchester City. Coached by Pep Guardiola. And obviously Monaco were underdogs here. And the first leg showed that. As Manchester City beat AS Monaco by a score of 5-3. Aguero scored a brace in this game along with Caballero getting a penalty saved. Then in the second leg was another thriller. Monaco beat Manchester City in their home ground by 3 goals to 1. This makes the aggregate score 6-6. And with Monaco having scored 3 goals in the first leg at the Etihad, they went through to the second round. In the quarter finals they faced Borussia Dortmund. Mbappe was the star of the show in that tie, as Monaco went on marching on to the semis. And their opponents were Juventus. Juventus had conceded only two goals in the competition till that stage that season. And yes Monaco's fairytale was ended by Juventus itself. Over a 4-1 win on aggregate.

The Ligue 1 title and the semi final finish in the Champions league was quite memorable and will remain that way in Monaco's books. Most of those young talents were sold. It did earn them money, and a lot of money. But the club lost track since then. They couldn't build on their feat of that season. In the following seasons they lost their European spots, battled relegation, completely out of sorts. But just recently Monaco seems to be trying to make a comeback. It's managed by Niko Kovac now. So bright times should be ahead. But whatever it may be, the 2016/17 season will always be remembered by the fans of AS Monaco and the footballing world alike.



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(Edited)

It was that season that displayed Kylian Mbappe. Monaco was not even the underdog that season but no one ever expected them to reach that height. They saw a big chance and they worked on it. They mistake they made afterwards is selling their rising stars.
That's the mistake most clubs that experienced that kind of glory, trying to cash in on players instead of adding to the squad depth.

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Yeah, I agree with you. Kylian Mbappe could do more for Monaco. Thanks for reading by the way.

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