Reaction: AS Monaco determined to rebound after PSG loss
Following AS Monaco’s frustrating 4-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain, Adi Hutter, Denis Zakaria and Mika Biereth shared their reflections on what was a difficult evening, plus a range of other topics.
Missed opportunities and mistakes costly
With Monaco missing many excellent chances and committing some untimely errors, these were key aspects Hutter identified as pivotal towards the loss.
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“For me, we lost the game in the first half by missing too many opportunities in front of goal. With three or four chances early on, we had to lead, but in the end, Paris Saint-Germain deserved their victory and they showed it in the second half. Congratulations to Luis Enrique and his team, who are one of the best in Europe at the moment. It’s a shame, because I was happy with our performance in the first half, but we have to score more,” insisted the Austrian tactician.
“After the break, they wrapped up the match with two goals in quick succession. It was very difficult today to leave with a draw, even if I appreciated that the team never gave up. But in the end, four goals was too much, they showed far too much quality on the pitch. Over 90 minutes, we were not good enough to hope for anything else. Now we will return to Monaco and concentrate fully on the next match against Benfica in the Champions League.”
PSG’s star power shines through
How PSG raced out of the blocks to begin the second stanza was also touched on by Hutter, as Luis Enrique’s men emphatically punished ASM’s lapses in concentration.
“We wanted to develop the game [in the second half], but, for me, we were losing too many easy balls. After that, the Parisian players have great quality with the ball at their feet and have clear ideas of what they want to do with it, so congratulations to them. They can play incredible, fast football! They also press a lot when losing the ball, it was impressive,” he reflected.
“Then we made mistakes, and in five minutes they killed the game by scoring two goals. The fourth is anecdotal because we were trying to attack to come back. I think the score is a little too harsh, even if over the whole game they deserved their victory. Once again, we missed too many opportunities in the first half.”
Zakaria then offered his take on the match, as he noted the immense class PSG boasts all over the pitch as the major difference-maker. “It’s hard to say. I simply think that PSG are above [us], we’re not going to hide it. Today, they proved it again, and we weren’t able to disturb them more than that, it’s a shame. They are strong collectively, hats off to them. They showed that they deserved to have this lead in the standings,” the Swiss international told the ASM website.
Biereth echoed the sentiments of his skipper, stating: “We knew their qualities before the match and tried to do our best to minimise them. That’s what we managed to do in the first half by playing almost on an equal footing. But when you play against a team of this level, they can make the difference at any time. Unfortunately, 10 minutes after the restart, we lost this match. We will have to analyse all of this carefully and try to come back stronger.”
All eyes on Benfica
Knowing his side will have to up their level for the Benfica match, it was interesting to hear Hutter preview this colossal upcoming Champions League clash.
“We have a few days ahead of us to prepare as best we can for this match against Benfica, which will be very different from today’s match against PSG. Benfica has quality players as well, even if I don’t put the two teams on the same level. We were unlucky at home against them, because Wilfried Singo’s sending off was too harsh in my opinion, he didn’t deserve a red card,” said the 54-year-old.
Lessons learned
Despite the loss, Biereth was full of insight when talking about how he can use this match as a terrific learning experience moving forward.
“From a personal point of view, it’s a match that I can learn a lot from against two of the best central defenders in the championship, who are very strong physically. Especially since it was my first time against Paris Saint-Germain! I tried to do my best and I think I’m going to learn from it,” commented the striker.
Zakaria’s thoughts on the areas needed for improvement made for great reading too, with him well aware of what needs fixing. “We need to be a little more consistent and avoid mistakes, because most of our goals conceded come from that. We need to defend better. It will come through work in order to regain the defensive rigour that we had at the start of the season,” mused the midfield powerhouse.
Al-Musrati debuts
While there weren’t heaps of positives to be extracted from this loss, there’s no doubting the debut of new signing Moatasem Al-Musrati was one of them, for he was solid in possession and got through his defensive work admirably.
“He made a very good entrance into the game. He brought us a lot of stability, because he is very calm with the ball. I am happy with his debut, he showed that he can be a very good player and that he will be able to help us a lot in this second part of the season,” explained Hutter.
UCL awaits
Wanting to rapidly forget this tough night at the office, all eyes now turn to their UCL first leg play-off clash vs. Benfica at the Stade Louis II, where Monaco will be doing everything in their power to secure a coveted triumph on the grand stage.
