Lucien Favre's Nice presently are the surprise leaders of the French Ligue 1 yet that has done nothing to spoil the fun of the fans of AS.Monaco who are elated with the impressive form of their club's record signing Radamel Falcao (€60 million in 2013) after returning to the Principality side in the summer from an unsuccessful loan spell with both Manchester United and Chelsea.
While Falcao might have left the club after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament damage in the summer of 2014 having been out since the winter of the same year, El Tigre was a shadow of himself scoring only four goals in 26 Premier League games under Louis Van Gaal in Manchester United. Things did not change for the former Porto star even when he decided to move South to Chelsea as he ended up playing only 10 league games mostly as a substitute scoring just once. The situation will soon become unbearable for the striker after he was not even named in the club's Champions League Squad for the 2015/2016 season under Guus Hiddink with Brazilian winter loan signing Alexander Pato replacing him for the Champions League.
Having returned to his parent club after been away for two years, the forward is presently in the form of his life having scored his first competitive hat-trick since 9 December 2012 on Saturday against Bordeaux in a 4-0 away win for Leonardo Jardim's side. Also worthy of mention is the fact that the former River Plate forward has now scored eight goals in his last eight games in all competitions for the French club who qualified as group winners in their Champions League group with the likes of Tottenham and CSKA Moscow exiting the competition. The Colombia who has a British grandfather (George King of North Yorkshire) has also been involved in 10 goals for the club in his last eight games in all competitions having provided a further two assists apart from his eight goals.
For those who have been familiar with the spectacular form of the forward this comes as no surprise although he appeared to have lost his confidence while in England after his recovery from the career threatening injury which prevented him from captaining his country during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. At Monaco, the forward has struck an impressive partnership with Frenchman V. Germain who also returned from a season long loan this summer having impressed in Nice with Claude Puel last season. Though flying high at the moment Leornardo Jardim's squad is still not as strong as the Monaco side who reached the final of the 2004 Champions League under Didier Deschamps having beaten the likes of Chelsea and Real Madrid at the time with the likes of Fred Rothen, Shabani Nonda, Ludovic Giuly and Zikos. It is safe to say that this present side is a work in progress with a lot of promise considering the world class talent possessed by the likes of Bernado Silva, T. Bakayoko, Lemar and Fabinho.
Presently, The Principality club are third in the table on 33 points two points behind leaders Nice and one point behind second placed PSG , having lost twice recording 10 wins and three draws in the process.
For now at 30, Falcao might have lost a little pace yet that has only made him change his game to suit his age considering how he has carried his team so far both in attack and as the captain. It should be noted that El Tigre might even better his previous record of 52 goals in 68 La Liga games for Atletico Madrid if he continues in his present form as the sky is his limit.
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