UCL Recap: Monaco Eliminated After Draw Against Benfica
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AS Monaco and SL Benfica played out a 3-3 draw in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League knockout play-off on Tuesday night at Estádio da Luz. Despite the draw, it was the Portuguese side that advanced with a 4-3 aggregate win.
Monaco made a strong start, firing off eight shots in the first half as they looked to find the goal that would level the aggregate score at one-all. But it was the home side that struck first, leaving Adi Hütter and his team in an even tougher position.
Wilfried Singo made a costly mistake, losing the ball just outside the box, and Vangelis Pavlidis took advantage, crossing to the far post for Kerem Aktürkoğlu, who scored in the 22nd minute to extend Benfica's lead to 2-0 on aggregate.
Instead of crumbling under the adversity, Monaco rose to the challenge as the visitors cut the deficit to one after a goal from Takumi Minamino in the 32nd minute.
Les Rouge et Blanc's attack came to life with a decisive run from Breel Embolo, who held off two defenders. Minamino swooped in and calmly slotted the ball past the post to finish the play to make it 2-1 on aggregate.
After the two sides came out of the halftime break, Monaco found the aggregate equalizer in the 51st minute. Maghnes Akliouche bursted into the box and delivered a right-footed cross, which Embolo let pass for Eliesse Ben Seghir to finish with a calm strike.
Monaco had the momentum on their side, but just like in the first leg, a mistake proved costly, and another slip-up hurt them in the return leg.
There was another loose ball in Monaco’s box, and when Thilo Kehrer tried to clear it, he caught Fredrik Aursnes' foot, leading to a penalty after a VAR review a few minutes later.
Pavlidis stepped into the box and fired off a powerful shot to beat Radosław Majecki to give Benfica a 3-2 lead on aggregate in the 76th minute. Despite the goal from the home side, Monaco again remained calm under adversity.
Hütter made changes in the 80th minute, bringing on Kassoum Ouattara and George Ilenikhena, and those substitutions paid off.
Ouattara cleared the ball far ahead for Ilenikhena, who took on his duel with Anatoliy Trubin on his first touch and slotted the ball under the Benfica goalkeeper to level it 3-3 on aggregate in the 81st minute.
Monaco snatched momentum again from Benfica, but the Ligue 1 McDonald's club didn't hold onto it for long. The Portuguese side retook the lead on aggregate after a goal in the 84th minute.
The away side's defense made another mistake with a poor clearance. Álvaro Carreras delivered a cross to the near post, where Orkun Kökçü made a slight deflection to beat Majecki and make it 4-3 on aggregate.
Even though Monaco overcame adversity on multiple occasions in this contest, they couldn't overcome the Kökçü goal as they fell 4-3 on aggregate to Benfica, who join LOSC Lille in the Champions League Round of 16.
After the match, Kehrer spoke to Canal+ and shared his reaction to the squad falling short of advancing to the next phase of the Champions League.
"We're disappointed. We gave everything, but it wasn’t enough—we were just one goal short. We're out tonight, but we can hold our heads high. We had plenty of chances, but unfortunately, luck wasn’t on our side, and maybe we lacked a bit of composure too.”
"We played well as a team and left it all on the field, but it still wasn’t enough. In the key moments, we didn’t defend our goal as we should have. It was a knockout match, and you have to take risks to win. The mistakes come from those risks, and it’s unfortunate."
The Stat: 22
French clubs have won just one of their 22 away games against Portuguese teams in the Champions League, with five draws and 16 losses. The only win came from Olympique de Marseille, who defeated Sporting Lisbon on October 12, 2022.
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