As a thrilling title race nears its climax, Ligue1.com looks at who the standout players have been for the contenders and picks out a quiet achiever for each of the top four. Do you agree with our picks?
LOSC
Key man: Burak Yilmaz
Nothing quite summed up the impact that Yilmaz has had on Lille and on French football like his performance in last weekend’s 3-2 win at Lyon. Lille were two goals down and had dropped from first to fourth in the live table heading into half-time, when Yilmaz scored a stunning free-kick to bring his team back into the game. An assist for Jonathan David brought Lille level before the Turkish striker burst through to score the late winner and leave Les Dogues top of the table.
Few observers could have expected “Kral” (‘King’) Burak to have such an impact when he arrived last close season on a free transfer from Besiktas. He had played for the four biggest clubs in his homeland - Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor were the others - but his only previous spell abroad had been 18 months in China with Beijing Guoan.
Watch: Yilmaz stars as Lille stun Lyon
Nevertheless, at 35, Yilmaz has been a driving force for Christophe Galtier’s side in their title tilt. He is their top scorer in Ligue 1 Uber Eats with 12 goals despite missing two months of the season between January and March with a calf injury. Before his heroics in Lyon he had notably scored a late winner in Montpellier, the only goal in a victory at Nîmes, and the opener in a key recent win at Metz.
>> PLAYER PROFILE: Burak Yilmaz
Quiet achiever: Sven Botman
Lille’s success this season has first and foremost been built around a solid defence. Mike Maignan has been outstanding in goal, while José Fonte has been an inspirational captain. But alongside him Botman has been a sensation since signing from Ajax to fill the considerable gap left when Gabriel was sold to Arsenal.
The 21-year-old Dutch prospect cost a reported €8 million - less than a third of what Arsenal paid for Gabriel - and has started all but one league game while also being a regular in Lille’s Europa League campaign. Botman has quite literally been a quiet achiever, with Galtier admitting he is not a big talker and instead “leads by example, through his performances”. The question is whether Lille will be able to keep hold of him in the upcoming transfer window.
Paris Saint-Germain
Key man: Kylian Mbappé
Even when not always at his electric best, Mbappé has been the standout for the Parisians this season. His statistics speak for themselves: with 25 goals after Round 34, Mbappé is well clear at the top of the scorers’ charts and is on course to finish a third consecutive season as the leading marksman in Ligue 1.
The France superstar has 37 goals in 43 games in all competitions, including stunning strikes away in Marseille and Lyon, as well as a hat-trick in Barcelona and a brace away to Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Little wonder PSG are so determined to tie him down to a new deal, with his current contract expiring at the end of next season.
Watch: Mbappé's devastating pace and goal against OM
Quiet achiever: Moise Kean
PSG needed attacking reinforcements at the start of this campaign following the departures of Edinson Cavani and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. They could scarcely have hoped for better than the contribution provided by Kean since the Italian international striker was signed on loan from Everton.
Kean has scored 16 goals in 35 appearances, including netting in the 4-1 win in Barcelona. Little wonder it has been reported that PSG are prepared to open discussions with Everton about turning the 21-year-old’s loan into a permanent transfer while also being prepared to listen to offers for Mauro Icardi.
AS Monaco
Key man: Kevin Volland
Another contender in the category of signing of the season in Ligue 1 Uber Eats is Volland, with the German international forward excelling since arriving in Monaco from Bayer 04 Leverkusen in September for a reported fee of €11 million plus a potential €4 million more in bonuses.
The 28-year-old has been a more than able partner for Wissam Ben Yedder in the Monaco attack, with 15 goals and eight assists in the league, including a brace in a 3-2 home win over PSG in November. Volland has also scored twice in the principality side’s run to the Coupe de France semi-finals, and it is a surprise that he continues to be overlooked by Germany coach Joachim Löw, with his last appearance for the Nationalmannschaft dating back to 2016.
Watch: Volland and Monaco get better of PSG
Quiet achiever: Aurélien Tchouaméni
The 21-year-old, signed in January 2020 from Girondins de Bordeaux for a reported €20 million, has formed an outstanding central midfield partnership with Youssouf Fofana at the Stade Louis II. Used sparingly by former coach Robert Moreno in the weeks following his arrival at Monaco, he has flourished this season under Niko Kovac.
Tchouaméni has played more minutes than any other Monaco player this season, only missing two Ligue 1 Uber Eats games because of suspension. That form also earned him a call-up to the France squad for the Under-21 European Championship in March, and full international honours should lie in wait in the future if he continues to develop at his current rate.
Olympique Lyonnais
Key man: Memphis Depay
It has been a disappointing last 10 days for Lyon, who were knocked out of the Coupe de France in the quarter-finals by Monaco before being effectively knocked out of the title race with last weekend’s home loss to Lille. Sitting fourth, six points off top spot and four points behind Monaco in third, OL really need to win away to the principality side this weekend to keep alive their hopes of Champions League qualification.
It is the kind of challenge Depay usually loves. Think back to the last day of the 2017-18 season, when the Dutchman’s hat-trick against OGC Nice secured a top-three finish for OL at the expense of Olympique de Marseille. The 27-year-old is set to leave Lyon this summer when his contract expires and he wants to go out on a high. He is comfortably their leading scorer with 20 goals, including 18 in Ligue 1 Uber Eats - only Kylian Mbappé has managed more than that.
Can the OL captain now drag Lyon to another top-three finish?
Watch: Depay's double strike against Nantes
Quiet achiever: Tino Kadewere
Signed from Ligue 2 side Le Havre last year for €12 million, it was unclear how the Zimbabwean striker would adapt to the step up to top-flight football. He has coped admirably and his performances in the first half of the campaign contributed to Moussa Dembélé being shunted out of the side.
Kadewere, 25, joined forces with Depay and Karl Toko-Ekambi to create a three-pronged front line that has scored more than 40 goals this season. Kadewere has 10 himself. Seven of his goals came in the last 11 matches before the winter break and included a brace in the derby against AS Saint-Etienne and the winner away to PSG. He has not been able to maintain that form in the second half of the season but the signs are there will be plenty more to come from the Zimbabwe star.
“My career is on the right road but I can’t afford to relax. I am already at a big club, one of the biggest in the world, but who knows how far I can go if I continue like this. You never know, maybe one day I will be like Benzema,” Kadewere told L’Equipe in December, evoking the success of another striker who once starred for OL.
