Ludovic Giuly

This was a particularly galling defeat for Giuly because he suffered a groin injury early in the match, forcing him to leave the field in the 23rd minute, being replaced by Dado Pršo.

Without Giuly, the club's task of winning the final was even more compromised.

Even manager Didier Deschamps admitted that losing Giuly was a "big blow" and said, "Giuly's injury was not good news for us – he is a very important player for us on the offensive side."

This was Giuly's last appearance for Monaco.

Ludovic Vincent Giuly (born 10 July 1976) is a French former professional footballer who played as a winger.

In 1994, he won the Coupe Gambardella with their U18 team.

Giuly began his career with Lyon in 1994 at age 18, and made his debut for the club in a Division 1 match on 21 January 1995 against Cannes; a 3–1 win.

The following season, Giuly earned the nickname "the magic elf", referring to his low height (1.64 metres) and his vivacious character.

In the 1996–97 season, Giuly finished the season with 16 goals in 37 matches.

During the 1997–98 season, he played 19 matches with Lyon and scored one goal.

He made his last appearance for Lyon on 10 January 1998 in a 1–0 loss against Marseille, where he played 90 minutes.

Giuly was signed by Monaco in the winter break in January 1998.

The transfer fee was €7.5 million (£6.6 million), although the fee was then assessed at 42 million francs, which was a considerable sum at that time.

Just ten days after playing for Lyon against Marseille, Giuly made his Monaco debut against them in a 1–1 draw on 20 January 1998.

Giuly scored his first goal for Monaco in a 5–2 win over Bordeaux in May 1998, on the final day of Ligue 1.

In his first half-season with Monaco, he made a total of 12 appearances, scoring once.

In the 1999–2000 season, Giuly proved to be a key member in the Monaco squad on its right side, as he led his team to the Ligue 1 title for the first time since 1997.

In the 2001–02 season, Giuly started strongly with two goals against Paris Saint-Germain and Lens respectively, before he suffered ruptured ligaments in his right knee which kept him sidelined for almost the entire season and spoiled his chances of playing in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

The 2002–03 season was decisive for Giuly.

Giuly represented France at international level, gaining 17 caps over a five-year period and was a member of their 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup-winning squad.

He made his return from injury in a match against Troyes in a 4–0 win on 3 August 2003.

In the 2003 Coupe de la Ligue Final between Monaco and Sochaux, Giuly captained the side and scored a brace in a 4–1 win to win the Coupe de la Ligue for the first time in the club's history.

His good performance at Monaco led him being selected in the FIFA Confederations Cup which France won.

At the start of the 2003–04 season – Giuly's last with Monaco – he scored a superb overhead kick during a league match against Lens with an assist from Jérôme Rothen, having suffered an injury that kept him out for a week prior to the game.

While the club floundered in the race for the Ligue 1 title, they had a fantastic run in the UEFA Champions League progressing through the group stage (where Giuly scored goals at home to AEK Athens and Deportivo de La Coruña) and making it through to the knockout stage.

Here, Monaco eliminated Lokomotiv Moscow, Real Madrid (in which he scored a brace in the second leg) and Chelsea.

Giuly captained Monaco in the final, where they lost 3–0 to José Mourinho's Porto.

Barcelona paid about €7 million to Monaco in order to sign Giuly on 28 June 2004, with Giuly signing a three-year contract.

On 29 August 2004, Giuly scored on his Barcelona debut against Racing de Santander in a 2–0 win and played 90 minutes.

On his move, Giuly was happy after enjoying a successful start to life in Spain.

Giuly helped Barcelona to win La Liga in the 2004–05 season, ending a six-year championship drought.

He was the second top scorer for the club with 11 goals.

Although his season was disrupted by several muscle injuries, Giuly was able to fulfil his promise to reach double digits in goals in his first year at his new club.

One of his greatest moments was being part of Barcelona's squad, as he helped the team win the UEFA Champions League in 2005–06.

Since June 2022, he’s been the assistant manager of Lyon.

Giuly was immersed in the world of football from an early age since his father, Dominique Giuly, born in the village of Zalana, in Corsica, was a former goalkeeper, who played briefly in professional football for Bastia before continuing an amateur career until the age of 32 with several clubs in the suburbs of Lyon.

Ludovic Giuly made his debut in the club in which his father was then active: the ASCMO, now known as Monts d'Or Azergues Foot, in the city of Chasselay, located about twenty kilometers from Lyon.

He then entered the training center of Olympique Lyonnais.

The next season turned out to be a troublesome campaign, after Monaco finished in 11th place in the league.

Giuly scored 7 goals in 30 appearances.