UNFP Awards: Mbappe, Messi nominated; Galtier snubbed

PSG forward Kylian Mbappe can hope to win his fourth Best Ligue 1 Player trophy in a row, an award he will have to compete against teammate Lionel Messi to earn in two weeks. On the other hand, PSG manager Christopher Galtier is not among the coaches in the running for the trophy for the Best Ligue 1 Coach despite the very likely coronation of PSG this or next weekend.

Galtier will not be named best Ligue 1 coach even if PSG are champions of France. The coach had lifted this award three times before, but that won't be the case this season as the rest of the Ligue 1 managers didn't consider his season worth winning such an accolade at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.

Christophe Galtier, snubbed from Best Manager Award by fellow Ligue 1 coaches

Franck Haise, Paulo Fonseca, Pascal Gastien, Philippe Montanier, and Igor Tudor are the five men nominated for the award of Best Coach in Ligue 1, but not Christophe Galtier. The Parisian technician does not appear in the list of nominees unveiled this Tuesday, at the end of the afternoon, one crafted by the votes of all of the league managers themselves.

PSG could win a historic 11th Ligue 1 title this week if they win their game against Auxerre but not even that is going to help Galtier, whose team have clearly underperformed even in a title-winning season. Galtier already won the award for the best manager in 2013 with AS Saint-Etienne, and then again in 2019 and 2021 with LOSC Lille before signing with PSG last summer.

Mauricio Pochettino, who preceded Galtier in the PSG's bench, also missed on a nomination for the award in his last season at the helm of Paris Saint-Germain even though the Argentine coach also led the team to the Ligue 1 title a year ago.

Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, favorites for Best Player Award

While Galtier won't bring any fresh trophy to the Parisian shelves, that is of no concern for the club from the French capital.

Kylian Mbappe (currently the top goalscorer) and Lionel Messi (top assister) will contend for the Best Player award

Mbappe, at the top of the Ligue 1 scorer rankings (26 goals), could be crowned for the fourth consecutive time. Messi (15 assists) is playing for his first-ever such award since he arrived in Paris nearly two years ago. They are joined by Lens' Lois Openda and Seko Fofana, as well as Lille's Jonathan David. Notable absentees are Olympique Lyon's Alexandre Lacazette and Olympique Marseille's Alexis Sanchez.

Gigio Donnarumma and Nuno Mendes, also nominated

Gianluigi Donnarumma could also get an award as he's been nominated for the Best Goalkeeper Award. The Italian is in competition with Brice Samba (RC Lens), Anthony Lopes (OL), Pau Lopez (OM), and Lucas Chevalier (LOSC).

Finally, Nuno Mendes could win the trophy for the Best Young Player. The Portuguese left-back will have to beat Bardley Barcola (OL), Eliesse Ben Seghir (Monaco), Rayan Cherki (OL), and Elye Wahi (Montpellier).

On the side of the PSG Feminine, five players of the women's team won awards at the D1 Arkema gala on Monday night. You can find out more about the winners in our post dedicated to them, as well as getting all of the comments, quotes, and reactions from the gala.