After finishing behind LOSC Lille last season, PSG have regained the Ligue 1 title in the 2021-22 campaign. It was, however, a rather luckluster year for Mauricio Pochettino's men, whose performances left a lot to be desired despite their comfortable run in the league.
Paris Saint-Germain headed into the season with plenty of new faces after one of the most ambitious transfer markets in recent years, which included the shocking arrival of Lionel Messi at the French capital. With such a star-studded roster, Paris were not only expected to dominate locally but also in Europe.
However, with any Champions League hopes ended in the round of 16, PSG had to settle with a domestic success that remains rather unsatisfactory, given that they never shone and mostly won games because they simply had a much better squad than any other side. That may explain why Messi, Neymar and Mauricio Pochettino were all snubbed at the 2021-22 season awards.
Messi, Neymar, Pochettino snubbed at 2021-22 Ligue 1 awards
Championship-winning players or coaches usually take much of the spotlight when it's time for the season awards. However, that's not been the case for most of Paris Saint-Germain members this year.
On Wednesday, the UNFP (French players' union) has revealed the nominees for the 2021-22 individual awards. Mauricio Pochettino, who has constantly been in the eye of the storm for his team's performances, was not included in the shortlist for the 2021-22 Ligue 1 Manager of the Year award.
Instead, the UNFP has selected Olympique Marseille manager Jorge Sampaoli, Stade Rennais boss Bruno Genesio, FC Nantes coach Antoine Kombouare, RC Strasbourg manager Julien Stephan, and Nice coach Cristophe Galtier - who won the award last season.
On top of that, neither Leo Messi nor Neymar were nominated for the 2021-22 Ligue Player of the Year award, which nevertheless has Kylian Mbappe as heavy favorite to win the prize after a fantastic season. The other nominees besides the PSG striker are AS Monaco ace Wissam Ben Yeder, Lyon star Lucas Paqueta, Marseille's Dimitri Payet and Martin Terrier of Stade Rennais.
Besides Mbappe, the other PSG players who are nominated for an individual award are Gianluigi Donnarumma and Nuno Mendes. While the Italian goalie competes against Walter Benitez (Nice), Alban Lafont (Nantes), Pau Lopez (Marseille), and Matz Sels (Strasbourg) for the Goalkeeper of the Year award, the Portuguese left-back is nominated for the 2021-22 Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year along Arnaud Kalimuendo (Lens), Castello Lukeba (Lyon), William Saliba (Marseille), and Khéphren Thuram (Nice).
