Monaco battle to save season after Champions League early exit

After eight games, Monaco were unbeaten and level on 20 points with Paris Saint-Germain at the top of Ligue 1. They also took 10 points from the first 12 available in the Champions League, including beating Barcelona, setting them up for direct qualification for the last 16.

However, a fine beginning has given way to a long run of inconsistent results, with Adi Huetter's team losing six of their last 14 in Ligue 1 to find themselves now in fourth place. They are a huge 16 points behind leaders PSG, and just two ahead of Lille, the team they face this weekend.

The top three in Ligue 1 qualify directly for next season's Champions League, with fourth entering in the qualifying rounds while the side in fifth will have to settle for the Europa League.

A crushing 7-1 win at home to struggling Nantes last weekend - in which recent signing Mika Biereth scored a second hat-trick in three Ligue 1 games - was an encouraging sign.

But Monaco's defence has too often been exposed against top-level opposition and that was again the case on Tuesday as a 3-3 draw away to Benfica ended their Champions League campaign in the play-offs.

They had lost three of their final four games in the league phase to miss out on direct progress to the last 16, before losing 4-3 on aggregate to the Portuguese club.

Monaco are also out of the French Cup, meaning their wait for a first trophy since claiming the Ligue 1 title in 2017 will go on. "I thought we deserved to go through," Huetter, who recently signed a new contract to 2027, said after the Benfica exit, while admitting that his side "committed too many mistakes that were easily avoidable".

There is perhaps too heavy a dependance on young players, with the likes of Maghnes Akliouche, Lamine Camara, Eliesse Ben Seghir and Biereth all aged 22 or under, while captain Denis Zakaria has been too prone to injury.

Going much further in the Champions League, as well as staying with PSG in the title race, may never have been realistic. However, missing out on next season's Champions League is unthinkable for the club owned by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.

"Young players have always been the DNA of Monaco," the club's Brazilian CEO Thiago Scuro told L'Equipe this week. "In the future we maybe need more maturity and leadership. But we have shown that we are ready to be in the top three in Ligue 1."

 

February 20, 2025

Fixtures (times GMT)

Friday

Rennes v Reims (19.45)

Saturday

Lille v Monaco (16.00), Saint-Etienne v Angers (18.00), Auxerre v Marseille (20.05)

Sunday

Nantes v Lens (14.00), Nice v Montpellier, Strasbourg v Brest, Le Havre v Toulouse (all 16.15), Lyon v Paris Saint-Germain (19.45)