Champions League: Spirited AS Monaco fall short vs PSG after exciting second leg

Despite being reduced to 10 men for the second time in the tie, AS Monaco refused to be overrun by Paris Saint-Germain, producing a gutsy display in the Champions League playoff second leg that ended all square (2-2) and earned them plenty of admirers on the way out (5-4 on aggregate).

The match

Sébastien Pocognoli set his side up in a 3-4-2-1 for the second stanza, handing Maghnes Akliouche a return to the starting line-up in behind Folarin Balogun, with Mamadou Coulibaly alongside him. Aladji Bamba, who caught the eye as a substitute against RC Lens, was given a midfield berth next to Lamine Camara, while Denis Zakaria dropped into the back three with Wout Faes and Thilo Kehrer.

Backed by roughly 1500 travelling supporters, Monaco started brightly, with Faes’ decent effort going close in the fifth minute. They kept pushing and nearly broke the deadlock when Coulibaly found himself in space six yards out, only to lift his shot over the bar (9′). Moments later, Kehrer’s header just went past the woodwork too (11′).

Monaco continued to carry a threat, as Camara tested Matvey Safonov with a drive from distance that the Russian keeper did well to keep out (30′). The match then opened up, with Folarin Balogun forcing a fingertip save from Safonov (38′) before Bradley Barcola hit the crossbar at the other end (41′).

Just when it seemed the sides would go in even at the break, Coulibaly pinpointed Akliouche in the box with a clever pass, and the France international did the rest, with a little help from the post, to mark his 24th birthday in style and propel his team into the lead.

PSG came out with intent after the interval, with João Neves’ glancing header requiring a sharp save from Philipp Köhn to turn it behind (50′). Monaco’s task then got significantly harder when Coulibaly picked up a second yellow to leave his side with 10 men once again (59′).

The red card swung the momentum decisively, with Marquinhos levelling almost immediately (61′) before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put PSG ahead from close range (66′). Pocognoli turned to his bench with a triple substitution, bringing on Christian Mawissa among others (74′), and Köhn produced a superb stop to deny Désiré Doué as the hosts pushed for a third (78′).

Monaco weathered the pressure and struck back on the counter, Simon Adingra teeing up Jordan Teze to make it 2-2 in stoppage time (91′). There was even a chance to win it and send the tie to extra time, but Faes headed Camara’s free-kick narrowly wide just before the final whistle (94′). A cruel exit, but one Monaco can reflect on with pride.

Pocognoli’s debrief

“There are two feelings, the first being pride. Across both matches and overall throughout this Champions League campaign, we’ve been quite satisfactory and impressive. We’ve been able to grow in this competition, arriving today with a certain consistency in our approach. I said that if we could make Paris Saint-Germain doubt themselves tonight, that would already be a great success, and we did it right up to the last second with 10 men against 11, so hats off to the players,” explained the Belgian tactician.

“Then there’s the frustration because, if you look back at the history of the two matches, finishing each time with 10 men makes me wonder: what if we had finished with eleven men? What would have happened? Those are the two feelings that stand out, and I think it’s the same for the players. In any case, we’ll have to use this to build on the end of the season because if we can do that, we’ll experience some great nights like tonight.”

Akliouche speaks

The excellent Akliouche also offered his reflections afterwards, stating: “There’s bound to be disappointment and frustration because we had the ability to secure qualification. I don’t think we lacked intensity; it’s mainly the red cards in both legs that hurt us. We essentially played with 10 men for almost 90 minutes. We stepped up in many areas, and we can be proud of our performance. We need to learn from matches like this because we’ve proven we can do this against top teams.”

Back in action

Next up following this result, Monaco welcome Angers SCO to the Stade Louis-II, where they’ll be looking to triumph in order to extend their unbeaten streak in Ligue 1 to six matches and breathe further life into their chances of achieving European qualification for the 2026/2027 campaign.