Shorthanded AS Monaco lose to Inter Milan | OneFootball

Very quickly reduced to ten against an Inter team that have been invincible at home and untouchable in the Champions League, the Rouge et Blanc lost in Milan. It was, however a defeat that does not call into question their qualification for the play-offs.

Faced with one of the favourites to win the trophy, AS Monaco were beaten in Milan on Wednesday evening by Inter, who remained unbeaten in San Siro in their last 12 matches in the Champions League. This final match of the league phase, played under the eyes of President Rybolovlev, who was present at the San Siro, would not prevent the Rouge et Blanc from playing in the competition’s play-off round, the draw for which will take place this Friday. Recap ✍️

The context 📅

Winners over Aston Villa in the previous matchday (1-0), the Rouge et Blanc have thus punched their ticket for the Champions League play-offs and can dream of a potential qualification for the top 8. It was a mission which promised to be challenging, since the Monegasques were set to face Inter Milan, fourth at kick-off, and who had only conceded one goal during this league phase!

When you look at their Champions League run this year, they've scored eight goals and conceded just one in seven games. So they have a very good defence obviously, but they've also scored 55 league goals in 21 games, conceding 18, which is an incredible difference of +37!

The XI 👥

For this last league phase match, Adi Hütter opted for a 4-2-3-1 system with the same elements as in the last two matches at the Stade Louis-II, except for Breel Embolo who started up front. Denis Zakaria was also present, while the trio of Akliouche – Golovin – Minamino was responsible for driving play.

The scenario 🎞

The kick-off was given in a packed San Siro stadium, with more than 1,200 Monaco supporters present in the away end. Unfortunately, the first chance of the match forced Denis Zakaria to commit a foul in the area on Marcus Thuram, who won a penalty converted by Lautaro Martinez (1-0, 4′). The Milanese attacks continued Christian Mawissa would then see red on a deep run from the French attacker (12′).

The Rouge et Blanc are reduced to ten

Federico Dimarco would then take a free kick which was kept out by Radoslaw Majecki, who distinguished himself with a very nice save (13′). The Polish goalkeeper, however, could do nothing when Nicolo Barella played in Martinez, who finished with a flat foot (2-0, 16′).

The Monegasques regained control of the ball after this very eventful first quarter of an hour. However, Inter created new opportunities, such as a shot from Dimarco (21′) and one from Stefan de Vrij (35′), both off target. Half-time would finally come with this two-goal deficit.

A better start after the break

The second half begins with a new attack by the Nerazzurri into the area, but Radoslaw Majecki was again vigilant and got down well against the strikes of Thuram (50′) and Benjamin Pavard (52′).

The Monaco goalkeeper then kept out a new shot from Mkhitaryan, but finally conceded again to Lautaro Martinez, who had followed the trajectory of the ball well (3-0, 67′). The Argentine was even close to a quadruple just before coming off (71′). For AS Monaco, it was Lucas Michal who troubeled the Milan defenders dizzy on the left flank (78′).

Next stop: the play-offs

But bad luck was on the cards for the Rouge et Blanc tonight, as they were forced to finish with nine players after an injury to Jordan Teze (84′).

The last opportunity came from Marko Arnautovic, who saw his header go over the crossbar (88′). Despite this defeat, the Monegasques would reach the play-offs of the Champions League by finishing 17th in the table. Adi Hütter’s men will thus know, at the end of the draw which takes place on Friday, whether PSG or Benfica will be their opponent for tie on the 11/12 and 18/19 of February.

Key moments 🎥

4′: A penalty is converted by Lautaro Martinez for the opening goal (1-0) 13′: Majecki saves from on Federico Dimarco’s free kick 16′: Barella slips Martinez into the area who finishes cleverly (2-0) 24′: A defensive intervention by Kehrer stops Mkhitaryan 35′: Stefan de Vrij sees his shot go over the bar 50′: Majecki gets down well to stop Thuram’s shot 67′: Mkhitaryan’s shot is deflected by Majecki, but Lautaro Martinez reacted quickly to seal his hat-trick (3-0) 88′: Arnautovic sees his header go over the bar

📋 Match details:

Wednesday, January 29 (21:00) – Stade Giuseppe-Meazza (San Siro)

🇪🇺 Champions League – Matchday 8: Inter Milan 3-0 AS Monaco

Halftime: 2-0

Goals: Martinez (4, 16, 67′) for Inter Milan

Bookings: Zakaria (2′) and Vanderson (45+2′) for AS Monaco; Pavard (65′) and Asllani (82′) for Inter Milan

Red cards: Mawissa (12′) for AS Monaco

Inter Milan: Sommer – Pavard, de Vrij, Bastoni (Augusto, 59′)- Dumfries (Darmian, 75′), Mkhitaryan, Barella (Frattesi, 59′), Aslanni, Dimarco – Martinez © (De Pieri, 75′), Thuram (Arnautovic, 59′)