Ligue 1: AS Monaco eager to end their season in style vs Lens

With Champions League qualification already secured thanks to last weekend’s 2-0 win over Olympique Lyonnais, AS Monaco will close out their season vs RC Lens on Saturday.

Despite the pressure being off, Adi Hutter remains determined to finish the season strongly. He spoke on this and more in his pre-match press conference.

Balogun

The first topic on the docket was the status of Folarin Balogun, with Hutter confirming he’ll miss this clash following the injury he suffered ahead of the Lyon game last time out.

“Folarin will be out this weekend, along with Moatasem Al-Musrati and Aleksandr Golovin. He was a bit unlucky before the Lyon match, injuring himself in a training duel. One of his ligaments was damaged, which is painful. He trained yesterday, but there’s no way he’ll be able to help us in Lens. As for the rest, we’ll see who’s making the trip after the final training session this afternoon,” he explained.

Still pushing

Wanting his team to end the campaign with another win to potentially snatch second in the standings from Olympique de Marseille, the ASM coach is fully expecting his team to be motivated and put in a superb showing.

“We’re going to Lens to try to win because we still have the chance to finish second since we don’t know what Marseille will do. It’s our goal to get a good result against a good Lens team. Finishing second would be a great achievement and could give us the chance to play for the Champions Trophy, like this season, depending on PSG’s result in the Coupe de France final. We’ll have to do our job and we’ll see what OM does,” insisted the 55-year-old.

Training

Hutter then shared his thoughts on how the final week of training unfolded, as he mentioned it was notably slightly less intense, allowing the players to celebrate their UCL qualification and recover.

“You can imagine that after the match against Lyon, there was an explosion of joy in the locker room because no one expected the three teams behind us to lose. Having achieved our Champions League objective and securing a podium finish, it definitely changed our training week. Congratulations to the club, as everyone deserves this qualification! I’m also happy for all our supporters,” he told the media in attendance.

Teze impressing

A real positive of late has been the form of Jordan Teze, who has impressed immensely for ASM by stepping up when needed and proving his worth with some solid, reliable performances at the back. Hutter touched on this, stating: “Many players like Vanderson have played a lot. This is his first real season with so many games to play, between the Champions League, the Brazilian national team and the Champions Trophy. So that inevitably creates fatigue, even though he’s had a fantastic season.

“Of course, everyone wants to play, but you have to know how to protect him because he’s the third most-used player in the squad. I’m happy that Jordan played well in recent games and seized this opportunity. He’s also done a good job in training over the past few weeks, so he deserves to be a starter.”

Looking ahead

The next topic of discussion was Hutter’s perspective on the squad for next season, as he and the club shift their attention to shaping their plans for the future. “We’re always working towards continuity. Everyone knows we’re having a good season, with a successful Champions League campaign. We have several talented players in the squad. Everyone knows Eric Dier is joining us this summer, while others may want to join other clubs,” commented the Austrian.

“We may have to sell some during the transfer window, but I’m sure we’ll have a great team next year. I also think AS Monaco is an attractive club for many players because we fight for the top spots in Ligue 1 every year. The Principality is also a great place to live.”

Eric Dier transfer

Hutter praised the signing of the experienced and versatile Eric Dier from Bayern Munich, describing him in glowing terms as an asset who will bring leadership, stability and quality to the squad.

“I like him a lot. I’ve been watching him for several years when he was still at Tottenham, where he’s a legend. He also has many England caps and is coming off a great season with Bayern Munich. He’s very humble, he’s both a leader and a very good defender. He’ll be able to help us with his personality, and I’m happy he’s joining us this summer. He’s a good player who will fit in well in the dressing room. (A role in the middle?) We clearly signed him to play as a defender. Denis Zakaria is a number 6 and can also play in defence, but I repeat, we signed him to be in defence, even if he can help out in an emergency,” he said.

A second consecutive Champions League qualification

The tactically astute boss then showed his delight at Monaco’s second consecutive Champions League qualification, expressing how proud he is of this achievement, which is remarkably the first time the club has clinched back-to-back qualifications since 2018.

“I’m proud, of course. As a coach, when you arrive at a new club and want to implement a new style of play, it’s always a difficult job, but we weren’t playing any international competitions. With the Champions League this season and 11 more games to play, I think it’s a bigger achievement, especially since we lost key players like Wissam Ben Yedder, Youssouf Fofana, Guillermo Maripan, Mohamed Camara and Ismail Jakobs,” reflected Hutter.

“In return, we signed several talented players. This is a great source of pride for the team and the coaching staff, especially since we had a similar end to the season as last year. I had received several questions about us not being able to beat big teams, but that has since been the case with victories against Nice, Marseille and Lyon. It is a great success for the club.”

Deserved break awaits

Aiming to end the season on a high note, the players will then look forward to a well-deserved break after this fixture before returning to training. The team is set to resume training at the end of June for their usual medical tests, with the first official session scheduled for early July. A training camp will follow, though the location remains a secret for now.