Leonardo Jardim always planned for departures and his side’s 6-1 demolition of Marseille shows they will not relinquish their Ligue 1 crown without a fight
By Adam White and Eric Devin for Get French Football News
It is 15 January 2017. Monaco are top of Ligue 1. Leonardo Jardim’s side left Marseille’s Stade Vélodrome with a triumphant 4-1 win and three points to move them above Nice. And there they remained until Valère Germain rounded off an injury-time counterattack to seal a win against St Étienne and the Ligue 1 title in May. That victory against Marseille included a double from Bernardo Silva, a delightful lob from Thomas Lemar and an 89th-minute cameo from Kylian Mbappé. Up to this point, Mbappé had started only four Ligue 1 games. Monaco made it to the summit of Ligue 1 without him and a 6-1 win against the same opponents on Sunday night is the biggest signal yet that, even with their prize asset on the verge of joining PSG, they could do it again.
The shift in balance of power between Ligue 1’s top two over the summer has been seismic. Without a ball being kicked, the arrival of Neymar coupled with the exodus from the principality has thrust the momentum back towards PSG. A trio of Neymar-led victories later, most notably a 6-2 mauling of Toulouse on 20 August, largely with 10 men, the Ligue 1 title would appear to be Paris-bound once more, the case for Monaco’s defence apparently thin at best. But Jardim and his Monaco side have been here before. A year ago, with PSG’s 31-point winning margin fresh in their collective memory, Monaco opened what turned out to be a title-winning campaign with an underwhelming 2-2 draw at home to Guingamp and were dismantled 4-0 by Nice in September. PSG were clear favourites once more.
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