This is the last step to aspire to reach the Champions League. After sacking Sparta Prague in the third preliminary round (2-0, 3-1), Monaco host Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg on Tuesday night. The meeting will be followed live and in its entirety from 9 pm on Canal + and RMC Sport 1.
On its lawn at the Stade Louis II, the club from the principality will already play a large part of its season. This qualification for the most prestigious of the European Cups was established as a priority by the coaches, the squad and the players. It can even explain the more than weak start to the year in Ligue 1 for the Monegasques with the draw against Nantes (1-1), then the defeat in Lorient (1-0). But as Niko Kovac’s men prepare to compete in their 5me meeting in two weeks, they will have no right to make mistakes and will have to raise their level of play to make a choice before going to Ukraine next week.
Especially against this Shakhtar team, a great regular in the competition with 14 appearances in the last 17 seasons. “He is a formidable rival, accustomed to the Champions League, the favorite of our confrontation, and without a doubt the strongest that has been found,” insisted the Monegasque coach. And now coached by former Atalanta Bergamo coach Roberto de Zerbi, Ukraine’s runner-up, behind Dynamo Kiev, is on a streak of eight wins in his last ten matches (one draw and one loss).
To open the doors of the group stage of the Champions League, ASM expects a lot from its recruits, but especially from its executives, who are not all at the level yet. This is particularly the case with Wissam Ben Yedder, Kevin Volland, Axel Disasi, Youssouf Fofana or Aleksandr Golovin. It is up to them to measure up to allow Rocher’s team to return to C1 three years after their last participation.
