Ligue 1 Team of the Week: Round 15 - Hat-trick hero Giroud makes the grade, alongside Lisandro Lopez and Morgan Amalfitano

Ligue 1

Cesar Azpilicueta makes a debut in the Team of the Week after a sterling performance in the Derby de France. The young right-back set up Loic Remy with a superb delivery from the wing, before impressively shutting out a frustrated Jeremy Menez in what has been his best game of the season so far. Joining him is centre-back Souleymane Diawara who was equally solid in defence. Diawara stifled Pastore and Gameiro well, as he protected Steve Mandanda's clean sheet with a string of last-ditch tackles.

Luciano Fabian Monzon joins the Team of the Week due to an electrifying display on the left wing in Nice's 1-0 defeat to Lorient. The Argentine was les Aiglons' best player, setting the balance of defence and attack correctly. Rounding off the backline for this week is compatriot Lucas Mareque who defeated Monzon's side. Mareque was an imposing physical figure, one who kept the visitors' attackers at bay for the entire 90 minutes.

Julian Feret makes his debut appearance after a fantastic performance as Rennes came from behind to beat Evian 3-2. Feret opened the scoring with one of the goals of the season, eliminating five defenders before slotting under Bertrand Laquait, and also netted a penalty late on. Max Gradel of Saint Etienne was also on top form, netting as they downed Ajaccio 3-1 with the Ivorian marshalling the midfield well. Marseille's Morgan Amalfitano enjoyed a revitalised perfromance in his side's thumping 3-0 win over PSG. Amalfitano struck a fantastic low shot from just inside the area, before setting up Ayew with a pin-point cross as he certainly made his contribution count.

Bordeaux's Yann Gouffran inspired Bordeaux to a 2-0 win over Caen as les Girondins moved out of the relegation zone. Gouffran scored as he helped relieve the pressure off Francis Gillot. Lisandro Lopez made a return to form as his double enabled Lyon to beat Auxerre 3-0 in his first goals and TOTW appearance since August. Signing off Team of the Week for Round 15 is Montpellier's Olivier Giroud, who is arguably one of the best players in Ligue 1 at the moment. Giroud scored a scintillating hat-trick to propel la Paillade to the top of the table, as PSG faltered against Marseille.