Champions League: AS Monaco rue missed chances in draw with Tottenham
© AS Monaco
Sébastien Pocognoli’s first Champions League match with AS Monaco ended in a goalless draw at the Stade Louis-II on Wednesday evening vs Tottenham Hotspur. The Principality club is still without success in the prestigious competition after three rounds.
Sometimes, an ingredient is missing for the recipe to be perfect. In football, it’s the finishing. It was this factor that the Principality club lacked to win against Tottenham. Spurs often bent but never broke, repeatedly rescued by their goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario, who preserved the draw (0-0). In a sold-out stadium under the watchful eye of President Dmitry Rybolovlev, Pocognoli’s men deserved far more.
A team in line with the coach’s ideas
For the second consecutive match against an English club, following the visit of Manchester City, ASM’s new Belgian coach opted for a 3-4-1-2 formation. Thilo Kehrer returned as captain in defence, Jordan Teze was deployed in midfield and the attacking trio featured Folarin Balogun – last weekend’s scorer in Angers – Ansu Fati and Maghnes Akliouche. All this also unfolded in front of Paul Pogba, who partially resumed training this week, as well as former club legends Glenn Hoddle and Dimitar Berbatov.
Les Monegasques’ start was interesting, looking to impose themselves with their high pressing. For their part, the Londoners only managed to be dangerous from set pieces. Tottenham’s only real chance came through Micky van de Ven, whose header sailed over Philipp Köhn’s goal in the 20th minute.
The 11,500 spectators in attendance – nearly 1,000 of them English fans – watched Monaco regularly falter in the final third. Akliouche, lively throughout, and Balogun were denied twice by Italian goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario (28′, 36′), as both came close but couldn’t make the breakthrough.
Vicario the hero
After the break, ASM continued to put pressure on their opponents, as it was clear to see the former Union Saint-Gilloise coach’s principles of play gradually taking shape, with intensity and clear domination. Unfortunately, neither Akliouche (50′), Aleksandr Golovin (67′), Thilo Kehrer (68′) nor Jordan Teze (74′) managed to find the back of the net.
L'AS Monaco a obtenu le point du nul face aux Tottenham Hotspur mais cela aurait pu être bien différent sans cet énorme arrêt de Vicario 🫨#ASMTOT | #UCL pic.twitter.com/13rI1pYtgA
— CANAL+ Foot (@CanalplusFoot) October 22, 2025
The last quarter of an hour would even turn into an ordeal for Tottenham, who were totally overwhelmed by Monaco’s attacking threat. Coming on in place of Fati twenty minutes from time, Takumi Minamino immediately stood out. However, the Japanese striker was unsuccessful three times in the space of a few minutes (79′, 81′, 82′). The end of the game was approaching and Pocognoli still believed that his players could make the difference and win. But the last shot fired by Akliouche went wide (88′).
First clean sheet
Monaco missed their chance and even experienced a final moment of concern when Brennan Johnson saw his attempt blocked by Christian Mawissa, who came on in the 70th minute and made an excellent return (89′). Despite the six minutes of added time, the two teams ended up neutralising each other.
With no less than 23 shots attempted, Pocognoli’s men deserved much better, but Vicario’s display, which included a remarkable eight saves, continually repelled them. The home side can at least take one positive from the outcome, which was that they managed to keep their first clean sheet of the season.
With this second consecutive draw, ASM sits in 27th place in the league phase standings, with two points, and will have to produce a similar performance, while finishing their chances, to finally get a first win on the Norwegian pitch of Bodø/Glimt, located north of the Arctic Circle on November 4 (9 p.m.).
Pocognoli’s debrief
At the end of the match, Pocognoli remained upbeat, despite the feeling of bitterness. “There are regrets and a little disappointment about the performance my players gave on the pitch, which in my opinion was very positive. But there was also the pride of having played a very good match against a very good opponent. When you have control of the game and you create so many chances and keep a clean sheet, it’s a shame not to take the three points, which for me were more than deserved,” he explained in the press conference. His counterpart Thomas Frank even recognised the superiority of the club from the Rock.
Up next
ASM will be back in action on Saturday in Ligue 1 with the reception of Toulouse (7 p.m.), where they hope to put an end to a series of four consecutive draws in all competitions to offer their coach a first victory in his new colours.