beIN SPORTS

By Jonathan Johnson (@Jon_LeGossip)

The final weekend of the Ligue 1 season is already upon us and everything is settled except for the race for the third and final UEFA Champions League qualification spot.

AS Monaco, Olympique de Marseille and AS Saint-Etienne can all still finish in the top three, depending on their results on Saturday’s final day in Le Championnat.

Les Monegasques are away at FC Lorient, Marcelo Bielsa’s men are at home to SC Bastia and Les Verts of Christophe Galtier host EA Guingamp, with the principality outfit holding a two-point advantage. It promises to be an exciting last round of fixtures with those three games.

Elsewhere, the title and the final relegation place got tied up last week.

Paris Saint-Germain are French champions for a third consecutive season after their 2-1 win away at Montpellier HSC and Olympique Lyonnais’ 1-1 draw at home to Girondins de Bordeaux crowned Laurent Blanc’s men for the fifth time in the capital club’s history.

Evian Thonon Gaillard were the unlucky third club to drop into Ligue 2, joining financially stricken RC Lens and FC Metz in exiting the top flight.

With almost everything decided and with the official Ligue 1 awards handed out last weekend, it is my turn to pick my end of season winners.

Coach of the Year:

Although his name was inexplicably not even on the shortlist for the National Union of Professional Football Players’ (UNFP) awards, my choice for Coach of the Year is Leonardo Jardim of Monaco.

Not only was the Portuguese a newcomer to Ligue 1 and France itself, the 40-year-old had to deal with some of Les Monegasques’ top talents being sold as part of a financial restructuring at Stade Louis II and also cope with a Champions League campaign.

After a sluggish start, Jardim has impressed with a combination of his tactical nous, eye for talent, motivational skills and his ability to get the best out of the players he had available to him. The club have also done some excellent business to back him up.

Considering that they were 19^th in Le Championnat back in early September, a potential third place finish and a Champions League quarterfinal appearance is a superb start to life in the principality and Jardim is fully deserving of his recent contract extension that will keep him with Monaco until 2019.

Lyon’s Hubert Fournier deserves a mention for Lyon’s impressive title bid for the majority of the season, while Laurent Blanc is on the verge of leading PSG to the first-ever French domestic treble, but Jardim’s achievements eclipse both in my opinion.

Goalkeeper of the Year:

How Marseille’s Steve Mandanda was voted UNFP Goalkeeper of the Year is beyond me.

To my mind, there were only ever two real candidates for this award and they are Lyon’s Anthony Lopes and Monaco’s Danijel Subasic. Both single-handedly, at times, kept their respective teams in games and won them valuable points.

Either would have been a worthy winner of the UNFP gong and far outstrip anything that Mandanda has achieved this season with Marseille, even if the French international has not had a poor campaign at Stade Velodrome either.

Lopes gets the nod for me though. The Portuguese international has ben exceptional between the sticks at Stade Gerland this term and the 24-year-old’s value to Fournier’s side has been immeasurable.

Defender of the Year:

For years now, one-club man Loic Perrin of Saint-Etienne has been one of Ligue 1’s most underrated talents. Les Verts’ captain is a local lad and he has become a club legend because of his devotion to Les Stephanois.

This season might have been Perrin’s best yet, with the 29-year-old helping Galtier’s men to boast the second best defensive record in Le Championnat.

Only Monaco have fared better at the back (conceding 26 to ASSE’s 29) and but for an inexplicable fatigue-related 5-0 loss away at PSG back in August, the 10-time Ligue 1 champions would possess the tightest back line in the top flight.

Perrin has been a huge part of Saint-Etienne’s miserly defence and perhaps deserves recognition for it over goalkeeper Staphane Ruffier who, while also performing well this season, has arguably not been as decisive as Perrin.

Monaco’s defensive rock Aymen Abdennour was a close second to Perrin in my opinion.

Midfielder of the Year:

Unlucky not to be named UNFP Player of the Year, PSG’s Marco Verratti gets my vote for Ligue 1 Midfielder of the Year. The diminutive Italian has been superb this campaign and his consistency puts him ahead of a reinvigorated Javier Pastore as the French champions’ best player this season.

Verratti still needs to control his habit of picking up unnecessary yellow cards, but his unerring level of quality in his performances across all competitions this season has impressed everyone. It is a pleasure to have such an immense talent plying his trade in Le Championnat and long may it continue.

Lyon’s versatile Corentin Tolisso comes a distant second.

Striker of the Year:

UNFP Player of the Year and my vote for Ligue 1’s best striker this season is Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette.

With 27 goals and five assists to his name in 33 appearances, it has been a sensational campaign for the France international. In tandem with Les Gones’ breakout star Nabil Fekir, Lacazette has terrorised Ligue 1 defences and shown an impressive clinical streak in front of goal.

If there is one thing to work on for the 23-year-old, it is that he must become a bit more influential in the games against Le Championnat’s top sides.

The Lyon man failed to score a single goal against any of the league’s top five teams and that is something he should aim to improve next season ahead of the UEFA European Championship and a potential move abroad.

Saint-Etienne’s Max-Alain Gradel and Guingamp’s Claudio Beauvue, both seemingly England-bound this summer, deserve special recognition for their exploits in front of goal this season. However, Lacazette has been the star marksman.

Young Player of the Year:

As mentioned moments ago, Fekir has been a revelation this season alongside Lacazette in the Lyon attack and it was no surprise to see the newly capped France international pick up the UNFP Young Player of the Year award.

The 21-year-old, with 13 goals and nine assists in 33 games to his name, gets my vote as well.

Fekir has enjoyed a stunning breakthrough campaign, but must listen to those around him if he wants to make the most of his immense talent.

The Lyon man will clearly not remain at Stade Gerland (soon to be Stade des Lumieres) for his whole career. However, the youngster still has a lot to learn and appears to have let some of the plaudits he has received this season go to his head.

Fournier has needed to knock his young gem down a peg or two already this season and the OL tactician might need to do the same again next year in order to help him build on a superb campaign.

Monaco newcomer Bernardo Silva and PSG’s Marquinhos ran Fekir close for this award, but the Lyon man ultimately deserved it.