AS Monaco 2014

Coach: Claudio Ranieri

Backed by a wave of heavy investment following Monaco's return to Ligue 1 in 2013 under new majority owner Dmitry Rybolovlev, this Monaco side featuring Colombian striker Radamel Falcao — signed for a club-record fee that summer — finished as Ligue 1 runners-up in 2013-14, their first season back in the top flight, a remarkable result given the squad had been assembled almost entirely from scratch over the preceding twelve months. James Rodríguez, who would go on to star at that summer's World Cup for Colombia before a big-money move to Real Madrid, also featured prominently in an attacking unit that made Monaco one of the most watched teams in France despite the club's modest average attendances. Falcao suffered a serious knee injury just before the World Cup that summer, derailing what had been shaping up as a career-defining tournament and beginning a difficult, injury-affected stretch that never quite recaptured his prior Atlético Madrid form. This squad represented the opening chapter of Monaco's Rybolovlev-era recruitment strategy, a model that would later find greater success through developing and reselling younger talents rather than the marquee, established-star approach attempted in this particular season.