# 2011–12 Montpellier HSC season

The 2011–12 Montpellier HSC season was the 38th professional season of the club since its creation in 1974.
In that , the club was won its first Ligue 1 title, finishing the season with 82 points, three points ahead of runners-up Paris Saint-Germain. On 20 May 2012, in a game marred by stoppages for crowd violence, John Utaka scored a brace to secure a 2–1 victory over Auxerre and win the Ligue 1 title for Montpellier. Olivier Giroud, who finished the season with 21 goals and 9 assists, was the league's top goal scorer. Despite being tied on goals with Paris Saint-Germaier Nenê, he was named the league's top scorer by the Ligue de Football Professionnel due to finishing with more goals in open play.

## Players

French teams are limited to four players without EU citizenship. Hence, the squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player; several non-European players on the squad have dual citizenship with an EU country. Also, players from the ACP countries—countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific that are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement—are not counted against non-EU quotas due to the Kolpak ruling.

### Current squad

As of August 4, 2011.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | FRA | Laurent Pionnier |
| 2 | DF | FRA | Garry Bocaly |
| 3 | DF | FRA | Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (captain) |
| 4 | DF | BRA | Hilton |
| 5 | DF | CMR | Henri Bedimo |
| 6 | MF | FRA | Joris Marveaux |
| 7 | FW | NGA | John Utaka |
| 10 | MF | MAR | Younès Belhanda |
| 11 | MF | FRA | Grégory Lacombe |
| 12 | MF | FRA | Geoffrey Dernis |
| 13 | MF | CHI | Marco Estrada |
| 14 | MF | FRA | Romain Pitau |
| 15 | MF | FRA | Jonathan Tinhan |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | GK | FRA | Geoffrey Jourdren |
| 17 | FW | FRA | Olivier Giroud |
| 18 | FW | FRA | Karim Aït-Fana |
| 19 | FW | SEN | Souleymane Camara |
| 20 | MF | FRA | Rémy Cabella |
| 21 | DF | MAR | Abdel El Kaoutari |
| 22 | MF | FRA | Benjamin Stambouli |
| 23 | MF | TUN | Jamel Saihi |
| 25 | DF | FRA | Mathieu Deplagne |
| 27 | DF | FRA | Cyril Jeunechamp |
| 30 | GK | FRA | Jonathan Ligali |
| 40 | GK | FRA | Baptiste Valette |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 8 | MF | FRA | Guillaume Legras (at Martigues) |
| 24 | FW | FRA | Bengali-Fodé Koita (at Lens) |
| 28 | MF | FRA | Jonas Martin (at Amiens) |
| 31 | DF | FRA | Teddy Mézague (at Martigues) |
| 32 | MF | FRA | Adrian Coulomb (at Vannes) |

## Transfers
### Summer in

| Date | Name | Moving from | Fee |
| 9 June 2011 | Henri Bedimo | Lens | Undisclosed |
| 2 August 2011 | Vitorino Hilton | Marseille | Free |

### Summer out

| Date | Name | Moving to | Fee |
| 21 May 2011 | Antoine Jouan | Clermont | Free |
| 2 June 2011 | Téji Savanier | Arles-Avignon | Free |
| 2 June 2011 | Hugo Rodriguez | Arles-Avignon | Free |
| 6 June 2011 | Romain Armand | Clermont | Free |

### Winter out

| Date | Name | Moving to | Fee |
| 30 January 2012 | Bengali-Fodé Koita | Lens | Loan |

## Competitions
### Ligue 1
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Montpellier (C) | 38 | 25 | 7 | 6 | 68 | 34 | +34 | 82 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Paris Saint-Germain | 38 | 23 | 10 | 5 | 75 | 41 | +34 | 79 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Lille | 38 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 72 | 39 | +33 | 74 | Qualification to Champions League play-off round |
| 4 | Lyon | 38 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 64 | 51 | +13 | 64 | Qualification to Europa League group stage |
| 5 | Bordeaux | 38 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 53 | 41 | +12 | 61 | Qualification to Europa League play-off round |
* 1 2 Lyon won the 2011–12 Coupe de France and thus qualified for the group stage of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. Since they finished 4th, the spot for the Europa League play-off round goes to the fifth-placed team.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Soccerway

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | L | W | D | W | L | D | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | L | D | L | W | W | W | W | D | W | D | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | W | D | W | W | W |
| Position | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss