The derby at Monaco is a club affair, but for many of today's Aiglons, it has a special meaning. Here is a look at some of our players' stories at the Louis-II stadium.

DANTE, FIRST STEPS IN EUROPE

It was under the arches of the Fontvieille stadium that Dante's great European adventure began. On 14 February 2004, the central defender was not yet 19 years old and had just joined LOSC. In the Ligue 1 matchday 24 game, he was brought on by a certain Claude Puel in the 85th minute, in place of Mathieu Debuchy. The Dogues won (0-1) thanks to a goal by Matt Moussilou.

19 years later, the Brazilian is still there. The Brazilian is still here, with an armband around his arm, leading the Nice squad, having joined in 2016, and has just reached the 200-match mark in L1. All this while having shone in Belgium (Charleroi, Standard de Liège) and Germany (Gladbach, Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg).

BOUDAOUI, TODIBO: GYM DEBUTS

They are two essential components of Nice's team. They both extended their contracts until 2027 in the middle of the winter. Hicham Boudaoui and Jean-Clair Todibo have another thing in common: they both had their debuts with the Gym in the Principality. On 24 September 2019, just after being crowned African champions with Algeria, the Prince of Béchar came on on the hour mark in place of Adam Ounas. The Gym finally lost (3-1). On 2 February 2021, it was the central defender's turn to start his history in the red and black shirt. On loan from Barcelona, he started the match and played 75 minutes of high quality football before being replaced by Flavius Daniliuc. ASM won (2-1).

Boudaoui currently has 94 appearances for Nice and Todibo 87.

BRAHIMI'S FIRST START FOR THE GYM

In the winter of 2022, while the Gym was looking for a winger, Billal Brahimi was signed. The winger arrived from Angers. After eight appearances (five in L1 and three in the Coupe de France), the No.14 was part of the starting 11 at Monaco on 20 April (J33, 1-0).

A successful first start for "Billou", who won the Aiglon of the match award. One year later, he has made 38 appearances and scored 4 goals for the Aiglons.

THURAM, DIOP: THE FORMER MONACO PLAYERS

The two Gym Bleuets have the particularity of having played for the opposition. Khephren Thuram, who started at AS Monaco, got his first taste of professional football with the neighbouring club. Thierry Henry brought him on in the Champions League (against Dortmund and Atletico Madrid) and Leonardo Jardim in the Coupe de la Ligue (against Guingamp) during the 2018-19 season, but he made his first appearance in Ligue 1 with Le Gym in the summer of 2019 under Patrick Vieira.

On the other hand, the attacking midfielder, who started at Rennes, joined the Principality in the summer of 2018. He made his L1 and European debut there, following a loan spell at Sochaux in the 2019-20 season. The man who arrived at Nice this summer made 105 appearances and scored 17 goals for the club du Rocher.

A FOND MEMORY FOR RAMSEY

Finally, the Stade Louis-II will also bring back some memories for Aaron Ramsey, who visited the ground with Arsenal on 3 March 2015. The Welsh international scored the second goal in the 79th minute of the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 against Monaco. It was not enough to send the Gunners through to the next round after being beaten 3-1 in the first leg.

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