GFFN Awards | Ligue 1 Team of the Season: The Winners | OneFootball

With Paris Saint-Germain wrapping up their fifth-consecutive Ligue 1 title, Luis Enrique’s side are naturally represented in Get French Football News’ Team of the Season. However, they have not dominated as they did last season, when there were eight Parisiens in the XI. RC Lens have run them close in the race for the title, and that has been reflected in this year’s TOTS.

To select the TOTS, your votes over the course of the past fortnight have been weighted 50/50 with the GFFN team’s picks, with the players selected into a 4-3-3 formation. 

Goalkeeper: Robin Risser (Lens)

There was an expectation at Lens when Robin Risser arrived from Strasbourg in the summer that he could turn into an exceptional goalkeeper. The France U21 had attracted plenty of interest from Ligue 1 sides following his loan spell in the second tier with Red Star, but it was Lens that acted decisively. The club cleared the runway for Risser to become the no.1, sending Hervé Koffi on loan and bringing in Régis Gurtner as backup. 

Even still, most wouldn’t have expected Risser to take to the top flight so quickly. There was little to no adjustment from him as he slotted easily into Lens’s team as the last line of defence. And his performances between the sticks have been vital in helping Lens become one of the best teams in the league and Coupe de France finalists. 

A prototypical modern keeper who is comfortable with the ball at his feet, it’s no surprise that Premier League sides are rumoured to be looking to swoop in the summer for him. While in France, debate has been growing, especially with Lucas Chevalier’s struggles at PSG, that Risser should be in Didier Deschamps plans for the World Cup. 

Nick Hartland

Left-back: Nuno Mendes (PSG)

Six goals, seven assists: those are solid numbers for Nuno Mendes. A flying full-back, who has even played on the wing for PSG this season, the Portugal international has rounded out his game in recent months and his impact can equally be measured by how he shuts down the opponent. That could not have been said 18 months ago, for example. With Achraf Hakimi bombing down the other wing, Mendes has often been assigned more defensive duties, often coming inside to provide a back three and provide assurances in the event that PSG lose possession. 

He has excelled in the role, bar a couple of notable exceptions, for example, in the first leg of the electric semi-final against Bayern Munich. However, his name is now bound around when talking about the best full-backs in world football, and deservedly so.

Luke Entwistle

Centre-back: Malang Sarr (Lens)

Malang Sarr was the forgotten man of Chelsea. Plenty of players have been placed in the so-called “loft” at Stamford Bridge, with Axel Disasi, a previous resident, recently joking that it was the equivalent of Koh Lanta, a game show in which players are progressively eliminated. But none have been as forgotten as Sarr, whom Mauricio Pochettino seemingly didn’t even know when asked a question about the former OGC Nice centre-back.

Logically, his contract at Chelsea was cut short by mutual consent back in 2024. By that point, Sarr had featured so little that he had to build back his fitness. Opportunities weren’t always forthcoming in his first season, and when given his chance, his lack of rhythm did show. The departures of the likes of Kevin Danso, Abdukodir Khusanov, and Facundo Medina meant that Sarr was somewhat thrust into the line-up, especially this season under Pierre Sage.

He swam rather than sank, proving to be a reliable and immovable figure at the heart of Lens’ defence as they returned to the Champions League. His performances also earned him a place in the UNFP Team of the Season. With his contract expiring, his future is up in the air, but he has given himself a good chance of landing a big contract this summer.

Luke Entwistle

Centre-back: Willian Pacho (PSG)

As unbelievable as it may seem, PSG centre-back Willian Pacho is set to complete a near-full Ligue 1 season without picking up a yellow card. The Ecuador international’s record in the Champions League is equally spotless. Pacho is yet to enter the referee’s books since PSG’s FIFA Intercontinental Cup win in December.

Since his €40m signing from Eintracht Frankfurt two years ago, Pacho has had a meteoric rise. The 24-year-old combines all the attributes of great centre-backs of old with the requirements of modern football.

On top of his remarkable discipline, the 6’2”-tall defender towers above his opponents, wins duels for fun, never commits cheap fouls, and clocks high speeds to track back strikers. His keen eye for a pass and the ease with which he builds up-play make him an invaluable member of Luis Enrique’s team. If he’d score goals, he’d be the complete package.

“With him, you know the match will go well; there are fewer doubts, he enhances the others”, the Spaniard said. Securing back-to-back Champions League wins in Budapest against Arsenal, which also boasts Gabriel, one of the best left-sided centre-backs of the game, would further enhance his spot among the best defenders in the world.

Bastien Cheval

Right-back: Achraf Hakimi (PSG)

With a further 12 goal contributions this season, Achraf Hakimi continues to put up excellent numbers for a ‘defender’. Crucially, eight of those goal contributions have come in the Champions League; like many of PSG’s players, he has become a man for the big occasion. 

He has achieved those figures despite some serious injury issues this season, one of which almost saw him miss the Africa Cup of Nations. He quickly recovered, but whenever he is sidelined, there is concern. That is largely because PSG opted against signing a back-up in the knowledge that Hakimi is so crucial, particularly in the big matches, that he could never be usurped. Warren Zaire-Emery has been an able deputy and has performed well defensively. But he changes the way that PSG can play and highlights the key role that Hakimi plays, especially in an attacking sense. Few would contest that there is currently no better full-back in the world than the Morocco international.

Luke Entwistle

Midfielder: Adrien Thomasson (Lens)

Like with Pierre Lees-Melou in the 2023/24 season, Ligue 1 has this wonderful capacity to bring the best out of a player whose career looks to be in its twilight years. This season, it was Adrien Thomasson who, at 32 years old, took the spotlight, albeit in his usual understated and subtle way. 

Having spent most of his career as an attacking midfielder, his conversion to a defensive midfielder has been a masterstroke that has only worked to enhance his creativity rather than to limit it. Thomasson comes into the final day of the season as the league’s leading assist-maker, having set up ten goals to help Lens return to the UEFA Champions League, having been given free rein to orchestrate Pierre Sage’s attack. 

If there is one player who best embodies this Lens side, it is Thomasson. Quiet, hard-working, but with a penchant for flair. If reports are to be believed, and no extension to his current deal will be agreed before his contract comes to an end in the summer, it’ll be a heavy blow for the club.

Nick Hartland

Midfielder: Vitinha (PSG)

Following a podium finish in last year’s Ballon d’Or rankings, Vitinha has continued to serve as the anchor of an all-conquering Paris Saint-Germain midfield. His tenacious approach and his ease in gliding between opposition lines have not waned, while his passing range remains key to the Parisians’ transitions.

The Portuguese international is also a rarity in the squad, in that he is a regular presence in Luis Enrique’s lineups across all competitions. Despite playing every minute of the Champions League campaign so far, the 26-year-old has also been a fixture of the Asturian’s starting eleven in Ligue 1. The indefatigable midfielder was only stopped in his tracks by a heel injury in the second half of April, which saw him miss three games.

With more than twice as many minutes this season as the likes of Ousmane Dembélé or Marquinhos, it stands to reason that Vitinha would have the most influence on PSG’s success this season. In Ligue 1, he has often served as captain in the absence of the Brazilian defender, having assumed the role of vice-captain over the summer. Once the centre-back leaves the club, the armband will in all likelihood be passed down to Vitinha.

The midfielder will have saved his exploits in front of goal for the European stage, which has seen six of his seven goals this season, including a hat-trick in November against Tottenham. It would be no surprise to see him strike against North London opposition again at the end of the month.

Raphael Jucobin

Midfielder: Mamadou Sangaré (Lens)

Lens’ most expensive signing of the last summer transfer window, Mamadou Sangaré, arrived in France largely unknown to the general public. However, he soon managed to win them over. It didn’t take long for the midfielder to make his mark away from Austria, where he had settled in 2020 to continue the training he had begun in Mali, his native country. Immediately thrown in at the deep end by Pierre Sage, the former Rapid Vienna player quickly became a key cog in the Sang et Or system. And, as a result, a regular and indispensable first-team player.

Furthermore, Sangaré has started 29 of the 31 matches he has played for Lens this season, scoring three goals and providing four assists. As a testament to his remarkable and widely recognised rise to prominence, the Bamako-born player recently won the 2026 Marc-Vivien Foé Award, which is presented annually to the best African player in Ligue 1. In doing so, he has added his name to the prestigious list of previous winners, which includes the likes of Achraf Hakimi, Didier Drogba and Victor Osimhen. That’s quite something.

Léo Aschi

Left-wing: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG)

There are two versions of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia: the one viewed by the masses on big Champions League nights, and the one who plays in Ligue 1. Luis Enrique even made a joke to that effect after the Georgia captain netted a brace against FC Nantes back in April. “He got mixed up, he thought it was a Champions League night,” joked the PSG manager. The stats back it up. In 27 games in Ligue 1, Kvaratskhelia has eight goals and four assists compared to 10 goals and six assists in just 15 games in the Champions League. 

That is not to say that “Kvara” has not contributed to PSG’s league triumph, their fifth in succession, but he has saved his best performances for the big occasions, and, when PSG were toiling in the UCL in the past, their players were accused of exactly the opposite. Kvaratskhelia is no flat-track bully; he is the big-game player that PSG were missing. 

Luke Entwistle

Centre-forward: Esteban Lepaul (Rennes)

Estéban Lepaul’s rise from the fringes of French football to the top of Ligue 1’s goalscoring charts is one of the best stories of European football this season. Barring an unexpected Mason Greenwood quintuple against his Rennes side on Sunday, Lepaul will become the first non-PSG player to win the Ligue 1 Golden Boot since Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette in 2015.

Dropped by Lyon’s Academy in 2020, the son of 1995-1996 Ligue 1 champion Fabrice Lepaul learnt his trade in the fourth-tier with Epinal before climbing France’s ladder, with Orléans in National 1, Angers SCO in Ligue 2, and then Ligue 1.

He played a pivotal role in keeping Les Scoïstes above the relegation zone with 12 goal contributions. Given their financial situation, Angers could hardly turn down Rennes’ €14m offer for Lepaul, with the Bretons seeking a replacement for Nottingham Forest-bound Arnaud Kalimuendo.

Lepaul struck in his first Rennes game, and he hasn’t looked back since. The Auxerre-born player is a bit of a throwback centre-forward with a killer touch in the penalty box. His ball-striking technique is excellent, he covers ground to set up the press, and most of his goals this campaign stemmed from clever movement between the opposing centre-back and fullback.

He’s not only a selfish blend of Jamie Vardy and Thomas Mülller given he has racked up five assists. “20 Ligue 1 goals is no small feat”, Rennes head coach Franck Haise underlines. “Through all that work on breaking free from his marker, finding the right spaces, his defensive contributions… he’s a very complete forward.”

Bastien Cheval

Right-wing: Florian Thauvin (Lens)

Florian Thauvin was always going to be a fan favourite in Lens. From the moment his signing was announced, ‘Thauvania’ swept the city, helped certainly by his stormy past with local rivals Lille, but more so because he felt like the missing piece to this squad. Last season, Lens struggled with the art of putting the ball in the back of the net. They lacked a certain creativity and nuance in an attack that often felt flat. 

Thauvin’s presence on the pitch has injected the squad with a newfound panache, scoring ten and assisting five in a league campaign that saw Lens challenge PSG for the title up until the penultimate game. However, perhaps the most important intangible that Thauvin brings to the team is leadership. 

He’s a player who has grown tremendously since he took his first steps into the professional game with Grenoble. A career that has seen him bounce around from France, England, Mexico, and Italy has shaped a player gifted with precocious talent into an experienced leader. One who works as hard off the ball as he does on it. 

Nick Hartland

>> READ: GFFN’s End of Season Awards winners 2026

GFFN | Luke Entwistle