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AS Monaco opened their league phase campaign in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) with a 2-1 victory over a 10-man Barcelona - an eighth win from their last ten home games against Spanish opposition. Monaco could hardly have asked for a better start to their first UCL group/league stage game since 2018/19.
A little over 10 minutes were on the clock when a Marc-André Ter Stegen hospital pass left Eric García in a whole world of trouble, and when the Spaniard had his pocket picked by Takumi Minamino, he could do nothing besides bring him down as the last man, a decision which resulted in a red card. It didn’t take Monaco long to press home their advantage either, as a matter of minutes later Maghnes Akliouche’s marauding run ended with him thumping home at the near post. In almost carbon copy fashion though, Barcelona hit back.
A man light, but with supreme talent in attack, 17-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal took the game by the scruff of the neck, stepping in off the right to slam home a swift leveler. Only the offside flag denied Wilfried Singo firing Monaco back into the lead before the break when he converted from inside the area, but despite all their huff and puff before the break, Monaco went into half time on level terms. The game followed a much similar pattern after the break, with Monaco doing much of the heavy lifting, but as Vanderson found out when Ter Stegen denied him at full stretch, nosing back in front was going to be difficult.
That pressure eventually proved too much for Barcelona a little under 20 minutes from time, when a defensive catastrophe allowed substitute George Ilenikhena to stride through on goal and power home Monaco back ahead on his Champions League debut. It was another of Adi Hütter’s substitutions, Folarin Balogun, who almost wrapped the game up soon after, but his stinging near-post drive was repelled by the outstretched arm of Ter Stegen.
The Spanish giants were given a reprieve five minutes from time when Iñigo Martínez felled Balogun in the area, but after the referee consulted the pitch side monitor, he overturned his initial decision. That didn’t affect the result though, with Monaco holding on to extend their impressive unbeaten start to the season.
