2010-2020: The rebirth
After rebuilding in Ligue 2 from 2011 to 2013, AS Monaco were back in the Champions League after finishing second in 2014 and even won their eighth league title in 2017 at the end of what was an incredible season!
AS Monaco’s recent histoy began with a thunderclap. At the end of an agonizing 2010-2011 season, the club was relegated to Ligue 2 for the first time in thirty-five years! It was a fall from which the club would take a season to recover.
From one extreme to the other
The first six months in Ligue 2 were the stuff of nightmares. At the winter break, the team were bottom of the league but things began to look up under Marco Simone, who had replaced Laurent Banide after the 5th round. Dmitry Rybolovlev became the club’s president in December 2011 with great ambition despite what was a very challenging sporting situation, something which proved to be a needed shock. In the spring, after an impressive second half of the season, the team narrowly missed out on third place, synonymous with promotion; they would have to wait another year for a return to Ligue 1.
Returning to Ligue 1…
In June 2012, Claudio Ranieri was recruited to carry out this mission. After spending the entire season on the podium, AS Monaco confirmed its return to the top flight with a victory away to Nîmes on the 36th matchday. A week later, the team was crowned Ligue 2 champions in their final home match against Le Mans. On August 10, 2013, the club celebrated its return to the top flight with a victory in Bordeaux.
..and to the Champions League!
Second in the league at the end of the 2013-2014 season, and with a new club record for points in Ligue 1, AS Monaco qualified directly for the 2014-2015 Champions League. Leonardo Jardim succeeded Claudio Ranieri on the bench and the Rouge et Blanc impressed in their return to the European scene by reaching the quarterfinals, having beaten eliminating Arsenal in the round of 16. Even if they were stopped by Juventus, their campaign was an impressive one, as they hung on to third place in Ligue 1 despite a challenging start to the campaign. In the following season, in 2015-2016, the team’s Champions League run was cut short with a play-off elimination against Valencia. In the league, though, another third place finish gave the team a fresh chance at European play.
2016-2017: The Incredible Season!
In 2016-2017, AS Monaco did not let their chance to reach the group stage pass, eliminating Fenerbahçe and Villarreal over what was an auspicious summer, heralding an exceptional season. To wit, AS Monaco had a series of impressive results while a certain Kylian Mbappé exploded at the highest level. Tottenham, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund fell as the team made it into the last four of the Champions League for the fourth time in its history. In the league, despite the resistance of PSG, the season ended in an eighth league title for AS Monaco!
AS Monaco 2.0
Even if AS Monaco had finished on the podium for the fifth consecutive season, ranking second behind PSG in 2017-2018, its experience in the Champions League was more challenging, having face elimination in the group stage. The scenario will be the same in 2018-2019, but worse. While the team was struggling in the league, Thierry Henry replaced Leonardo Jardim in October 2018 to try to get the team back to its best, but it was ultimately the Portuguese coach, who returned in January 2019, who led the team to survival. At the same time, President Rybolovlev had launched the La Turbie Performance Center project, which would allow AS Monaco to take a further step, with the Diagonale rising over the Stade Louis-II to welcome young talents. of the Academy. Over the last eight years, Dmitry Rybolovlev has structured the club to allow him to approach the 2020s with even more ambition.
