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Champions League: Ten-man Monaco fall to Inter

Despite finishing with ten men and losing 3-0 to an Inter Milan powered by a Lautaro Martinez hat trick, AS Monaco nevertheless punched their ticket for the next round of the UEFA Champions League, with the play-off set for a fortnight's time. They'll join Paris Saint-Germain, LOSC Lille and Stade Brestois as Ligue 1 McDonald's teams in Friday's draw.
E. DEVIN
Published on 01/29/2025 at 22:15
2-minute read
After an early red card, the Monégasques were beaten at the San Siro

A difficult start

Despite fielding a strong side at a roaring San Siro, the match was quickly an uphill battle for Adi Hütter's side. With just four minutes on the clock, the Principality side were a goal behind, as Denis Zakaria brought down Marcus Thuram, leading to a penalty which Martínez duly converted. Former Sochaux and Guingamp forward Thuram then saw the visitors go a goal and a man down, as he forced Christian Mawissa into a last-man foul, making what was already a tough task against the competition's best defence doubly difficult. 

While Radoslaw Majecki would make a fine save to deny Federico Dimarco on the following free kick, he was left stranded on 16 minutes as Nicolo Barella picked out Martínez, the Argentine slotting home for a quickfire double. From there, the tempo of the match dropped considerably, as wayward efforts from Stefan De Vrij and Dimarco were the only chances before the break.

Focus on the playoffs

After the break, it was more of the same, despite the best effort of Monaco's young academy product, Lucas Michal, who came off the bench with twenty minutes to play. Majecki would again make saves to deny Benjamin Pavard and Thuram, but Martínez would have his hat trick midway through the half, scoring the final goal of the match thanks to some fine pressure.

Speaking post-match, manager Hütter took the defeat in stride, focusing instead on a place in the next round, saying, "We are also happy and proud to qualify, we have faced teams in the top 8 like Barcelona, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Inter.” Following Friday's draw, the Mon´´gasques will return to Ligue 1 McDonald's action on Saturday evening as they take on Auxerre at the Stade Louis-II, looking to make up more ground between themselves and Olympique de Marseille before facing Paris Saint-Germain Friday week. 

Read more:

>> Seventh heaven for Lille to seal Top 8 spot

>> PSG run riot to beat Stuttgart, reach knockouts

Header: AS Monaco

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