# 2016–17 OGC Nice season

The 2016–17 OGC Nice season was the 112th professional season of the club since its creation in 1904.

## Players
### Squad information

Players and squad numbers last updated on 20 August 2016. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Name | Position(s) | Date of Birth (Age) | Signed in | Contract until | Signed from |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||
| 1 | Mouez Hassen | GK | (1995-03-05) 5 March 1995 (age 29) | 2013 | 2017 | Youth academy |
| 16 | Simon Pouplin | GK | (1985-05-28) 28 May 1985 (age 39) | 2014 | 2018 | Sochaux |
| 30 | Yoan Cardinale | GK | (1994-03-27) 27 March 1994 (age 30) | 2015 | 2017 | Youth academy |
| 40 | Walter Benítez | GK | (1993-03-19) 19 March 1993 (age 31) | 2016 | | Quilmes |
| Defenders ||||||||
| 2 | Arnaud Souquet | RB | (1992-02-12) 12 February 1992 (age 32) | 2016 | | Dijon |
| 3 | Gautier Lloris | CB | (1995-07-18) 18 July 1995 (age 29) | 2016 | 2017 | Youth academy |
| 4 | Paul Baysse | CB / RB | (1988-05-18) 18 May 1988 (age 36) | 2015 | 2018 | Saint-Étienne |
| 15 | Patrick Burner | RB / LB | (1996-04-11) 11 April 1996 (age 28) | 2016 | 2019 | Youth academy |
| 20 | Maxime Le Marchand | CB / LB | (1989-10-11) 11 October 1989 (age 35) | 2015 | 2018 | Le Havre |
| 21 | Ricardo | RB | (1993-10-06) 6 October 1993 (age 31) | 2015 | 2017 | Porto |
| 24 | Mathieu Bodmer | CB | (1982-11-22) 22 November 1982 (age 41) | 2013 | 2017 | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 28 | Olivier Boscagli | CB | (1997-11-18) 18 November 1997 (age 26) | 2015 | | Youth academy |
| 29 | Dalbert | LB | (1993-09-08) 8 September 1993 (age 31) | 2016 | | Vitória de Guimarães |
| 31 | Dante | CB / LB | (1983-04-18) 18 April 1983 (age 41) | 2016 | | VfL Wolfsburg |
| 32 | Malang Sarr | CB | (1999-01-23) 23 January 1999 (age 25) | 2016 | | Youth academy |
| Midfielders ||||||||
| 5 | Younès Belhanda | AM | (1990-02-25) 25 February 1990 (age 34) | 2016 | 2017 | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 6 | Jean Michaël Seri | CM | (1991-07-19) 19 July 1991 (age 33) | 2015 | 2019 | Paços de Ferreira |
| 7 | Julien Vercauteren | RW | (1993-01-12) 12 January 1993 (age 31) | 2014 | 2018 | Lierse |
| 8 | Arnaud Lusamba | AM | (1997-01-04) 4 January 1997 (age 27) | 2016 | | Nancy |
| 12 | Albert Rafetraniaina | DM | (1996-09-09) 9 September 1996 (age 28) | 2012 | | Youth academy |
| 13 | Valentin Eysseric | CAM | (1992-03-25) 25 March 1992 (age 32) | 2013 | 2017 | Monaco |
| 18 | Rémi Walter | DM | (1995-04-26) 26 April 1995 (age 29) | 2016 | 2019 | Nancy |
| 25 | Wylan Cyprien | CM | (1995-01-28) 28 January 1995 (age 29) | 2016 | | Lens |
| 26 | Vincent Koziello | CM | (1995-10-28) 28 October 1995 (age 29) | 2014 | 2018 | Youth academy |
| 33 | Vincent Marcel | RW | (1997-04-09) 9 April 1997 (age 27) | 2015 | | Youth academy |
| Forwards ||||||||
| 9 | Mario Balotelli | ST | (1990-08-12) 12 August 1990 (age 34) | 2016 | 2017 | Liverpool |
| 10 | Mickaël Le Bihan | CF | (1990-05-16) 16 May 1990 (age 34) | 2015 | | Le Havre |
| 11 | Saïd Benrahma | RW / CF | (1995-08-10) 10 August 1995 (age 29) | 2013 | 2018 | Youth academy |
| 14 | Alassane Pléa | CF / RW | (1993-03-10) 10 March 1993 (age 31) | 2014 | 2018 | Lyon |
| 19 | Bryan Constant | CF / AM | (1994-03-27) 27 March 1994 (age 30) | 2013 | 2017 | Youth academy |
| 22 | Anastasios Donis | SS / LW / RW | (1996-08-29) 29 August 1996 (age 28) | 2016 | 2017 | Juventus |
| 23 | Alexy Bosetti | CF | (1993-04-23) 23 April 1993 (age 31) | 2012 | 2017 | Youth academy |
| 27 | Dorian Caddy | CF | (1995-03-20) 20 March 1995 (age 29) | 2016 | 2019 | Youth academy |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos. | Player | Age | Moving from | Fee | Notes |
| 13 July 2016 | DF | Dalbert | 22 | Vitória de Guimarães | | |
| 19 July 2016 | MF | Arnaud Lusamba | 19 | Nancy | €2,500,000 | |
| 25 July 2016 | MF | Arnaud Souquet | 24 | Dijon | | |
| 27 July 2016 | MF | Wylan Cyprien | 21 | Lens | | |
| 22 August 2016 | DF | Dante | 32 | VfL Wolfsburg | | |
| 31 August 2016 | FW | Mario Balotelli | 26 | Liverpool | Free | One-year contract |
| 31 August 2016 | MF | Younès Belhanda | 26 | Dynamo Kyiv | | Loan, with option to buy |

### Out

| Date | Pos. | Player | Age | Moving to | Fee |
| 21 June 2016 | FW | Alexandre Mendy | 22 | Guingamp | |
| 30 June 2016 | MF | Niklas Hult | 22 | Panathinaikos | |
| 1 July 2016 | FW | Hatem Ben Arfa | 29 | Paris Saint-Germain | Free |
| 3 July 2016 | MF | Nampalys Mendy | 24 | Leicester City | £13,000,000 |
| 19 August 2016 | DF | Kévin Gomis | 27 | Dundee | |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Pre-season preparations began on 29 June, with new manager Lucien Favre taking charge. The first ten days were spent in Fontenay-le-Comte before moving to Divonne-les-Bains, where they played their first friendly against Servette. Following the match, the team moved to Nice for the remainder of the pre-season.

## Competitions
### Overall

| Competition | Started round | Final position | First match | Last match |
| Ligue 1 | Matchday 1 | 3rd | 12 August 2016 | 20 May 2017 |
| Coupe de France | Round of 64 | Round of 64 | 8 January 2017 | 8 January 2017 |
| Coupe de la Ligue | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | 14 December 2016 | 14 December 2016 |
| UEFA Europa League | Group stage | Group stage | 15 September 2016 | 8 December 2016 |

### Ligue 1
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Monaco (C) | 38 | 30 | 5 | 3 | 107 | 31 | +76 | 95 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Paris Saint-Germain | 38 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 83 | 27 | +56 | 87 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Nice | 38 | 22 | 12 | 4 | 63 | 36 | +27 | 78 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Lyon | 38 | 21 | 4 | 13 | 77 | 48 | +29 | 67 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 5 | Marseille | 38 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 57 | 41 | +16 | 62 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round |
* 1 2 Since the winners of the 2016–17 Coupe de France and the 2016–17 Coupe de la Ligue, Paris Saint-Germain, qualified for European competition based on league position, the spot awarded to the Coupe de France winners (Europa League group stage) was passed to the fourth-placed team and the spot awarded to the Coupe de la Ligue winners (Europa League third qualifying round) was passed to the sixth-placed team. The fifth-placed team received the spot in Europa League third qualifying round originally designated to the fourth-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: Competitive matches

#### 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 | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | D | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | D | W | W | D | W | D | D | D | W | L | W | D | W | W | W | D | D | W | W | W | D | W | L | L | D |
| Position | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Europa League
#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SCH | KRA | SAL | NCE |
| 1 | Schalke 04 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 15 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Krasnodar | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 7 | Advance to knockout phase | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 5–2 |
| 3 | Red Bull Salzburg | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 7 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | — | 0–1 |
| 4 | Nice | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 11 | −6 | 6 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | — |

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Ligue 1 | Ligue 1 | Coupe de France | Coupe de France | Coupe de la Ligue | Coupe de la Ligue | Europa League | Europa League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||
| 30 | GK | FRA | Yoan Cardinale | 41 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 40 | GK | ARG | Walter Benítez | 6 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | FRA | Arnaud Souquet | 31 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | FRA | Paul Baysse | 25 | 2 | 20+2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | FRA | Patrick Burner | 7 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | POR | Ricardo | 30 | 2 | 23+1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | FRA | Olivier Boscagli | 4 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | BRA | Dalbert | 38 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | BRA | Dante | 39 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 32 | DF | FRA | Malang Sarr | 32 | 1 | 25+2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 36 | DF | FRA | Romain Perraud | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||
| 5 | MF | MAR | Younès Belhanda | 36 | 3 | 28+3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | CIV | Jean Michaël Seri | 39 | 7 | 34 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | FRA | Arnaud Lusamba | 9 | 0 | 3+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | TUN | Bassem Srarfi | 5 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | MAD | Albert Rafetraniaina | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | FRA | Valentin Eysseric | 33 | 4 | 23+6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | FRA | Rémi Walter | 26 | 0 | 15+7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | FRA | Mounir Obbadi | 6 | 0 | 3+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | FRA | Wylan Cyprien | 34 | 9 | 27+2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+2 | 1 |
| 26 | MF | FRA | Vincent Koziello | 34 | 1 | 19+8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | FRA | Vincent Marcel | 10 | 0 | 3+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | ITA | Mario Balotelli | 28 | 17 | 20+3 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 10 | FW | FRA | Mickaël Le Bihan | 10 | 3 | 2+8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | FRA | Alassane Pléa | 32 | 14 | 22+3 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3+2 | 1 |
| 22 | FW | GRE | Anastasios Donis | 22 | 5 | 3+15 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | FRA | Alexy Bosetti | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 |
| 34 | FW | FRA | Hicham Mahou | 3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||||||
| 24 | DF | FRA | Mathieu Bodmer | 17 | 0 | 7+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
Last updated: 20 May 2017 Source: Competitions

### Goalscorers

| Rank | No. | Pos. | Player | Ligue 1 | Coupe de France | Coupe de Ligue | Europa League | Total |
| 1 | 9 | ST | Mario Balotelli | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| 2 | 14 | FW | Alassane Pléa | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 3 | 14 | MF | Wylan Cyprien | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 4 | 6 | MF | Jean Michaël Seri | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | 22 | FW | Anastasios Donis | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | 13 | MF | Valentin Eysseric | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | 5 | MF | Younès Belhanda | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | 10 | FW | Mickaël Le Bihan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | 4 | DF | Paul Baysse | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | 23 | DF | Ricardo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | 34 | DF | Malang Sarr | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 26 | MF | Vincent Koziello | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 2 | DF | Arnaud Souquet | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 23 | FW | Alexy Bosetti | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | 20 | DF | Maxime Le Marchand | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Last updated: 8 June 2017

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No. | Nat | Name | Ligue 1 | Coupe de France | Coupe de Ligue | Europa League | Total |
| 1 | 30 | | Yoan Cardinale | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
Last updated: 14 October 2016