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Back in the 2011-12 Ligue 1 season, a heroic Montpellier HSC side thwarted Paris Saint-Germain’s first title challenge under Qatari ownership. Rene Girard’s men finished three points above the French capital outfit, despite the fact that PSG led Le Championnat at the halfway stage.

The decision to sack Antoine Kombouare and replace him with Carlo Ancelotti while the team were top of the table played a part in Les Parisiens’ eventual failure. However, Girard’s team featuring the likes of Olivier Giroud, Younes Belhanda, Remy Cabella, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Benjamin Stambouli and Henri Bedimo were full value for their improbable title triumph.

Plenty has changed at the Stade de la Mosson since those heady days, not least the coach - now Rolland Courbis instead of Girard - and the fact that all of those key players mentioned have moved on elsewhere.

There are still some survivors from the 11-12 title triumph; such as goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren, Vitorino Hilton, Joris Marveaux, Jamel Saihi and Souleymane Camara, but this current incarnation of La Paillade is almost completely unrecognisable to the champions of three seasons’ past.

In the campaigns since that incredible feat, the Languedoc-Roussillon outfit have finished ninth and 15^th in the table. Courbis only just steered the team clear of relegation last term, avoiding the drop by two points despite a 4-0 final day mauling away at champions PSG.

For the likeable 61-year-old, that was an achievement. The Frenchman took over at Stade de la Mosson for his second spell in charge in December 2013 after the sacking of the dull and unimaginative Jean Fernandez.

The well-travelled tactician led Montpellier to promotion from Ligue 2 in his first reign, before deciding that he had taken the team as far as he could. This time, he lifted them from 17^th to 15^th by the end of the season.

A strong January was key to Courbis’ turnaround of Montpellier’s fortunes, recording two league wins as well as a pair of Coupe de France successes - including knocking PSG out with a 2-1 win at Parc des Princes.

Now, having had a full summer to reshape the team after their brush with relegation, Courbis is impressing with La Paillade once again. A number of changes have been implemented over the summer, with all of them contributing towards a significant improvement on the pitch.

Montpellier have rediscovered some of their former defensive solidity, while they now have players capable of regularly scoring goals once again and some of their creative talents are stepping up and providing chances.

The addition of attackers Lucas Barrios and Kevin Berigaud looked for the first few months of the season as if it was destined to be a failure.

The pair had only managed one solitary strike between them by the time the Paraguayan international found the net in a surprise 4-0 win away at Stade Rennais in early December. But since then, the duo have scored nine times altogether in the league.

Barrios’ return to form has been particularly pleasing, with “The Panther” getting back to the sort of form that made him such a threat for Borussia Dortmund as the popular German club won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2010-11 and 11-12.

Moves to China with Guangzhou Evergrande and then Russians Spartak Moscow derailed the South American’s career for the two seasons afterwards, but the 30-year-old is finally getting back to his best on loan at Montpellier.

Barrios has five goals and two assists in his last five Ligue 1 outings and is rapidly become a player that Le Championnat’s defences fear coming up against, rather than the figure of fun he was when he first arrived.

Perhaps the biggest change of all, though, has come with the discipline that Courbis has instilled in this Montpellier side.

La Paillade have always had some excellent talents in their team, even when the majority of those 11-12 title heroes were making their exits. The problem was that it was impossible for Courbis or his predecessor Fernandez to play the same team in consecutive weeks because of their dreadful disciplinary record.

Last season, Montpellier finished bottom of the French fair play table after racking up 59 yellow cards and an astonishing 14 reds. To put that into context, the team with the second highest number of dismissals was Olympique Lyonnais with seven - half of MHSC’s end of term total.

This campaign has witnessed a complete turnaround though, Montpellier - incredibly - top the fair play table with just 31 yellow cards to their name. Courbis’ men are yet to have their first man sent off this season and the consistency in team selections has paid off with some solid results.

Despite a good season that has Montpellier sixth in the Ligue 1 table and within touching distance of AS Monaco in fourth place at present, the southerners’ hopes of emulating their 11-12 success are realistically slim to none.

However, that does not mean they cannot impact the outcome of the title race though.

This Sunday, Montpellier host league leaders Lyon and Hubert Fournier’s men could be second in Le Championnat by that time if PSG have beaten former boss Kombouare and his Lens side at Parc des Princes the day before.

OL have struggled of late, winning just two of their last seven games in all competitions. Last week’s surprise 2-1 defeat away at Lille OSC was their first since late November’s 3-0 humbling at the hands of bitter rivals AS Saint-Etienne.

Could this Montpellier side continue their excellent run of five wins in their last seven league fixtures against Lyon at the Stade de la Mosson this weekend?

If they were to take a point or more against Les Gones, this could be the weekend that the Ligue 1 title race takes a significant turn.