Although Monaco finished second in Ligue 1 this season, it was a disappointing campaign from Leonardo Jardim’s side, who failed to follow up their title success the previous year with another significant challenge.
It was evident it was going to be difficult for them when they lost numerous important starting players, including Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy, none of whom were really adequately replaced in the transfer market. Moreover, the established stars that they did have, such as Thomas Lemar and Fabinho, fell below expectations.
Hot from Radamel Falcao in the early weeks of the campaign saw them get off to a fine start, breaking the record for successive Ligue 1 wins in August as they carried on from the previous season, and laying down a marker when they smashed Marseille 6-1 at home.
That was to be their high point by quite some distance, though. With the European matches brought a run of very inconsistent form as they did not have the dynamism in their ranks that they had previously boasted.
Their problems came to a head at the beginning of December. Terrible form in the European competition saw them exit a competition they had reached the semi-final of a year earlier without so much as winning a game, and the gusto with which they played had been largely lost.
They got back to winning ways when the fixture congestion eased off, with Rony Lopes coming to the fore by scoring many goals and providing an excellent outlet. However, spring brought another downturn in form, triggered by a 3-0 Coupe de la Ligue final loss against PSG, who later beat them 7-1 in the league – a huge low point.
At one juncture, it seemed they might miss the top three entirely as their form collapsed, yet three wins in their last three games saw them over the line, meaning their season was satisfactory but certainly nothing more.
