5 best players in Ligue 1 in the 2020-21 season
After an incredibly dramatic final day that saw both the league title and the relegation play-off spot determined, the 2020-21 Ligue 1 season is now over.
With players from clubs like Lille, Paris St. Germain and Lyon all having outstanding campaigns, Ligue 1 has been one of the best competitions to watch this season.
So with this in mind, here are the 5 best players in Ligue 1 in the 2020-21 season.
#1 Kylian Mbappe – Paris St. Germain
Paris St. Germain ended up missing out on the Ligue 1 title in 2020-21, finishing the campaign one point behind eventual winners Lille despite being hot favorites going in.
However, Ligue 1’s most outstanding player during 2020-21 was still 22-year old PSG forward Kylian Mbappe.
The France international finished as Ligue 1’s top scorer by a clear seven goals, scoring 27, and also registered seven assists. He did all of this in just 27 starts, meaning that he averaged a goal contribution every 88 minutes, a scarcely believable statistic.
Capable of causing chaos in opposing defenses from basically anywhere across PSG’s front line, Mbappe’s 2020-21 campaign was the second-most fruitful of his young career thus far.
Essentially, when he hits top gear and runs at a defense, there are very few teams in the world capable of stopping him.
Quite how much longer he’ll remain in Ligue 1 is anyone’s guess, as his current deal with PSG expires in the summer of 2022 and he is yet to sign an extension.
But for now at least, this remarkable talent remains in France’s top flight, which is only the better for his presence.
#2 Burak Yilmaz – Lille
The most remarkable Ligue 1 campaign of 2020-21 came from Lille’s Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz.
The eventual Ligue 1 champions were home to some outstanding players this season, from defenders Sven Botman and Jose Fonte to attackers Jonathan David and Yusuf Yazici.
But it was Yilmaz who appeared to be the catalyst for their unlikely charge to their first Ligue 1 title in a decade.
Signed from Besiktas in the summer of 2020, the 35-year old wasn’t expected to make much of an impact. After all, just a few seasons ago he was playing in the Chinese Super League.
But in the end, Yilmaz simply didn’t stop scoring this season – finishing the campaign with 16 goals and five assists.
Most notably, he was responsible for some truly key goals during Lille’s title charge – including a winner against Nimes in a 0-1 victory, a brace in an important 0-3 win over Lens, and most dramatically, a brace and an assist in a crazy come-from-behind 2-3 win over Lyon.
If anything, it was that game that really spurred Lille onto their eventual title victory.
Whether Yilmaz can keep up this startling form into the 2021-22 season is anyone’s guess. But few players produced the goods quite as much as the Turkish international in the current campaign.