Ligue 1 Team of the Decade: Ibrahimovic & Mbappe form dream attack

Goalkeepers have come and goalkeepers have gone over the last decade in Ligue 1, but Marseille’s Steve Mandanda has – but for a brief ill-fated foray to Crystal Palace – stuck around.

The OM shot-stopper has not been universally appreciated over the last decade, but having been named the league’s best goalkeeper on four occasions since 2010, he has clearly done something right to win the respect of his fellow professionals.

Eclipsed by Hugo Lloris at international level, he boasts one Ligue 1 title and three Coupe de la Ligue trophies since 2010.

Jallet may not be the most glamorous name in the Ligue 1 Team of the Decade, but no-one can deny that the 35-year-old has been one of the most consistent players in Le Championnat over the last 10 years.

Indeed, he has spent the duration of that time at France’s largest clubs, one of the few pre-QSI signings to survive for any length of time at Paris Saint-Germain before stints at Lyon and Nice.

Now playing his football with Amiens, he is a two-time Ligue 1 champion, a winner of the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue.

When Marquinhos signed for Paris Saint-Germain in 2013 from Roma, there was a sense that the teenage Brazilian might have been using the Ligue 1 side as a stepping stone to Barcelona. Certainly, there has been interest from the Camp Nou outfit since, but he has committed his foreseeable future to PSG.

At 25, he has matured into one of the finest defenders in the game, showing not only quality but the versatility to fill numerous different roles, including right-back and central midfield, where he has been used with increasing success over the last year. A five-time Ligue 1 winner.

Since 2012, Thiago Silva has been a fixture in the Paris Saint-Germain defence, making nearly 200 Ligue 1 appearances for the Parc des Princes outfit.

When he arrived in France, he was arguably the finest centre-back in the game due to his incredible ability to read play, and though at 35 his reputation may have slipped off such a lofty perch, he retains much of his class.

He has won six Ligue 1 titles with PSG and has been in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year on seven occasions.

Former Brazil international Maxwell played out the final five years of his career with Paris Saint-Germain, where he turned out on 145 occasions in Ligue 1.

A great friend of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he was essential in the PSG dressing room, where he acted as a translator, but he was by no means at the club simply to act as a unifying factor behind the scenes.

On the field, he was a reliable performer as PSG began their domination of the French domestic game, winning four league titles among the 14 trophies he tallied in the City of Lights.

Arrived at Paris Saint-Germain as one of the bright young hopes of Italian football in 2012. While there might be some debate as to whether he has since gone onto fulfil his promise, there is little doubt that the 26-year-old has been one of the outstanding players in Ligue 1 since leaving Serie B side Pescara.

Few players in the game are cooler in possession than the Italy international star, who has earned a reputation as a competitive defender as well as a player dictating the tempo of any match. Another six-time Ligue 1 winner.

Burst onto the scene with Lyon in 2013 and was outstanding for the Rhone giants until moving on, surprisingly, to Real Betis during the summer of 2019.

Fekir showed consistent excellence throughout his time with his hometown side, scoring 54 times in 144 top-flight appearances. He showed an eye for the spectacular, too, notably netting from the halfway line against Toulouse with his weaker right foot.

Despite a serious knee injury sustained early in the 2015-16 season, there has been no playmaker to consistently hit the heights that Fekir managed.

A tireless performer in the midfield for Saint-Etienne and then Paris Saint-Germain before he moved to Juventus in 2017, there can be little doubt that for many years Matuidi was one of the most underappreciated forces in world football.

He was one of the few players already at Parc des Princes to survive the club’s big-spending spree following the QSI takeover, which speaks volumes as to his quality.

Primarily a defensive-styled player, he showed an increasing attacking acumen as his career matured and developed in France, largely thanks to his capacity to shuttle box-to-box on a repeated basis.

Paris Saint-Germain’s most prolific goalscorer of all-time, he arrived in the French capital in 2013 in a big-money deal from Napoli and has since established himself as a cult hero in the stands of Parc des Princes, as much due to his commitment and industry as his ability to find the net.

Often shunted out into a right-wing role in the first half of his career in France, he has since moved more centrally and has returned close to a goal per game in Ligue 1 since doing so. Has picked up the Ligue 1 title on five occasions.

PSG’s new era really took off when they signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic from AC Milan in the summer of 2012. Although the Swede was already into his 30s by that point, in four years with the Ligue 1 side he scored 113 goals in 122 outings in Le Championnat.

His eye for the spectacular was unmatched – he won Goal of the Year in 2013 for an outrageous scorpion flick against Bastia in a 4-0 win – while his statements during interviews made him a favourite of fans and media alike.

Won the Ligue 1 Player of the Year Award on three occasions.

Aged just 20, Mbappe’s Ligue 1 debut came in 2015, emphasising the tremendous youth he had when he exploded onto the scene. He has gone on to establish himself as one of the finest players in the world, smashing a host of records in the process, including becoming Monaco’s youngest Ligue 1 goalscorer.

Provided a vital X-factor as Monaco won a surprise title in 2017 before a €180 million move to Paris Saint-Germain.

Since switching to the capital, he has continued to write chapters of his legend, which has already seen him win the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year three times. He has 63 goals and 30 assists in 101 top-flight appearances along with three titles.

Despite being the most expensive footballer of all time, Neymar's two full seasons at Paris Saint-Germain have both seen him miss large chunks through injury. His record of 38 goals and 21 assists in 42 Ligue 1 matches is certainly impressive, but the sample size is too small for him to make it into this side.

Similarly Eden Hazard was twice named Ligue 1 Player of the Year at the start of the decade, but spent most of the last 10 years at Chelsea following his departure from Lille. Alexandre Lacazette also came into contention in terms of forwards having been named in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year on three occasions during his time with Lyon.

Further back, Dimitri Payet has shone in two spells with Marseille in midfield while both Mathieu Debuchy and Serge Aurier could have made cases for the right-back role.

So, there you have it, our Ligue 1 Team of the Decade!

But what do you make of our selections? Are there any glaring omissions, in your opinion?

Post your thoughts – and your own line-ups – in the comments...