Four years ago a team shocked the world. AS Monaco dethroned Paris-Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 and stormed the semi-finals of the Champions League. In the middle of the round of 16 of the 2020/21 Champions League, let’s take a look at what happened to the Monaco squad that beat Manchester City this time four years ago,
Monaco revisited
From Ligue 1 to Premier League Glory
Looking at the squad sheets on Monaco’s 6-6 total success, three names are immediately recognizable to Premier League fans.
After beating Manchester City, two players traveled to Manchester the following year. Yes, Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy were two of Monaco’s key players in 2016/17, but sometimes in football the best way to impress a team is to beat them. This was clearly the case with Pep Guardiola.
The other big name is none other than Fabinho. Yes, the linchpin of the midfielder we see now at Liverpool was a goalscorer in the return leg. Fabinho and his midfielder partner who will be mentioned have been praised for their ability to dominate and lead games. It’s fair to say that Liverpool got exactly what they hoped for. Fabinho has been every part fans have been waiting for, and maybe a little bit more.
Less glorious in the Premier League are two other names. Indeed, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Djibril Sidibé did not enjoy their stays so much. Bakayako failed to capture the hearts of Chelsea fans in the 2017/18 season, and Sibide didn’t rock Everton in 2019/20 either.
At the time, one could not have imagined how many members of this Monaco team would travel to England, let alone the success they would continue and experience.
A longer stay in France – not always in Monaco
Let’s talk about Kylian Mbappe. After entering the scene in 2016/17, his rise to stardom continued. Mbappe chose to stay in France, making the jump to his rival PSG. Fast forward four years and Mbappe is now considered one of the best players in the world, with the potential to dominate in the near future.
Without a doubt, Mbappe in retrospect is the star of the team, having done well to meet and exceed all expectations immediately imagined in 2017.
For many others, the past few years have been less exciting. Many players have spent more years in Monaco. Jemerson stayed until 2020, Andrea Raggi until 2019, Kamil Glik until 2020 and Danijel Subasic until 2020 as well.
Although a little less conspicuous, these players formed the defensive backbone of the team. For Subasic and Raggi it was the end of the line, neither have found or looked for a club since leaving.
The strangest of the players to stay in France was striker Valère Germain. Germain spent the trip in Marseille, where he has stayed since 2017. Not everyone had a fairytale move in the end.
The strange one came out
Only two have gone further since. Radamel Falcao landed in Galatasaray in 2019 where he has stayed since. Falcao had the most exciting years leading up to his stay in Monaco. Apart from his escapades to Manchester United and more oddly to Chelsea, Falcao will be remembered for his time at Atletico Madrid. Monaco probably provided the last hurray of his career.
Jemerson simply returned home to Brazil. After half a decade in Monaco, Jemerson left for the Corinthians.
Not everyone had their star turn after Monaco, but a healthy number certainly did. Indeed, the Monaco 2016/17 team will probably be remembered as a team that surprised the football world. Looking back, he boasted of a brilliant team of players, many of whom went on to achieve further success.
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