EXPERIMENTAL DEFENSE “MONACO”
With all due respect to Juventus, which at the same time was fighting for the next round in another French city, Nantes, the attention of the Russian fans was mainly focused on the match at the Stade Louis II. In the end, not many of our players in the public eye in Europe. Alexander Golovin and this time, as usual, he went to the base on the left flank of midfield.
In general, in the middle line, Philippe Clement did not prepare surprises for his opponent, but the defensive line looked unusual. So at its center was Malang Sarr, who has appeared only twice in the current European Cup campaign so far, but Guillermo Maripan, who is considered the main one, wasn’t even on the app, so let’s assume he wasn’t. it’s healthy. And on the right side of the injured Rubén Aguilar he was replaced by 20-year-old Chrislen Matsima, whose European experience is limited to 10 minutes late in the game in Leverkusen.
The main casualty for Xabi Alonso is the injury to one of the most brilliant players in attack, Moussa Diaby, who remained on the bench. He is not in the best shape and star striker Patrick Schick. As a result, the attacking trio looked like this: Florian Wirtz – Amin Adli – Adam Gloszek. And this despite the fact that the Spanish pupils suffered a quite unexpected defeat in their field, for which today they were forced to score.
By the way, the goalkeeper Lukasz Hradecki, who was crazy at Leverkusen, reappeared from the first minutes.
RECOVERY OF “ASPIRIN”
For the French teams, this Ligo-European evening began without much success. The “Old Woman” from Nantes opened the scoring in the fifth minute (Ángel Di María), while the “Aspirinas” from Monaco needed only eight more minutes. It seems that the Monegasques entered the field with the confidence that nothing would happen in the next 90 minutes, so they observed the impulses of the guests with some loyalty. And take them and kill them.
It was Jeremy Frimpong, who connected on the right edge, brashly went to the edge of Cayo Enrique and fired along the goalkeeper’s line. Axel Disasi jumped in front of Alexander Nübel, preventing him from folding, and the goalkeeper’s ball bounced right off Wirtz’s leg. The 19-year-old midfielder scored in the second successive Europa League game.
Just six minutes later, the talented 18-year-old Elisse Ben-Segir received the ball unimpeded in the center of the penalty area and, waiting for contact with Edmond Tapsoba, collapsed on the grass with pleasure, while Wissam Ben-Yedder confidently converted the goal. One of 11 meters. True, the Monegasques did not rejoice for long. Three minutes later, a corner kick into Nubel’s goal ended with a tight shot from Ezequiel Palacios hitting the near post. So, in less than half of the half, the teams scored three goals out of two!
After that, the hosts finally realized that they could not get involved in an open fight today and began to take martial arts in the middle of the field much more seriously, moving the fight to the ground. That’s just the score in the sum of two matches at that time was already equal. The Monegasques went to the break in a pensive state. In the previous seven games they have won the first half and have even forgotten what it is like to go to the locker room with a stone in your soul.
ON LESSONS NOT LEARNED
The beginning of the second half showed that Clement had also forgotten how to correct the situation in a match where the game was not taking place. The Monegasques seemed to have more possession of the ball, but they couldn’t think of anything ahead. Xabi Alonso must be praised. In the first game he opted for 4-4-2, and now he has changed to 3-4-2-1 and has practically completed his own penalty area.
And in the attack the Germans suddenly joined. At the end of the hour, Wirtz himself (the brain of the team) with a soft neckline behind Caio Enrique’s back, threw the ball to Amin Adly, and he headed the opposite ball to Nubel. A surprisingly weak game was played by the Monaco winger defender, who fell behind and did not have time to help up front. But before the match it seemed that the hosts’ problems must first lie on the opposite flank.
Not to say that Monaco was completely lost. Then, after Golovin’s (though not the best) serve, substitute Edan Diop jumped behind the defender and attacked Ben-Segira, but Hradetsky rescued his teammates. There was also a shot from Ben Yedder on the crossbar, but overall the Germans did not allow themselves to panic and won the case. For his part, Golovin played a very weak game, and although he was not worse than his teammates, he left the field in the 78th minute.
WHERE ARE YOU, PLUNGER?!
What was surprising for Monaco was Clement’s decision not only to keep Leverkusen’s hero of the match, Bril Embolo, but also to keep him on the bench until the end. Just 15 minutes from the end of the second half, the coach sent the Swiss onto the field. So he believed in Ben Yedder and Ben Segir. And it took Embolo six minutes to get the rojiblancos back into the game: he ran into the penalty area, waited for a shot from the right and headed into the far corner.
The end of the main time turned out to be elegant: double-edged and very hot, with attack against attack. In addition, the hit could go to anyone, but Sarr’s light touch on Frimpong’s leg in his penalty area was ignored by the referees, and Diop’s goal was disallowed due to the fact that at the time of transfer the ball went out of bounds. field.
In extra time, the game was even almost to the end, but notable except for the replacement of ex-Zenith player Serdar Azmun. So the teams could not avoid a penalty shootout, in which the Iranian was in charge of beating first. And it did not disappoint. Unlike the Monegasque Eliot Matazo. His shot to the crossbar was the only inaccurate one and ended Monaco’s European campaign. But Bayer goes further.
European League. 1/16 final. game of return
Monaco – Bayer – 2:3 (1:2)
Goals: Wirtz, 13 – 0:1. Ben Yedder, 19 – 1:1. Palacios, 21 – 1:2. Adli, 58 – 1:3. Plunger, 84.
Penalty shootout: Azmun – 0:1. Disashi-1:1. Amiri-1:2. Slam – 1:2 (by). Tapsoba – 1:3. Plunger – 2:3. Elegant – 2: 4. Volland – 3:4. Diaby-3:5.
Monaco: Nubel, Matsima (E. Diop, 61), Disasi, Sarr, Cayo Enrique, Diatta (Volland, 109), Camara (Matazo, 70), Fofana, Golovin (Boadu, 78), Ben-Seghir (Jacobs, 78 ) ), Ben-Yedder (Embolo, 78).
Bayer: Hradecky, Frimpong (Diaby, 103), Tapsoba, Ta, Inkapie, Palacios, Andrich, Bakker, Adli (Amiri, 74), Wirtz (Azmoun, 116), Gloszek (Chick, 70).
Warnings: Fofana, 41. Andrich, 65. Palacios, 99. Cayo Enrique, 119. Jacobs, 120.
Referee: Hernández (Spain).
First game – 3:2
