UCL Preview: Monaco head north to face Bruges
The last of the three Ligue 1 McDonald's teams to start their Champions League campaign, AS Monaco face a tricky trip to face Club Brugge. Read on for our complete preview.
Key absences, but strong optimism
AS Monaco have enjoyed a strong start to the Ligue 1 McDonald's season, picking up nine points from their first four matches, only being undone by a later winner away to LOSC Lille. Now, however, they'll turn their focus to Europe's premier competition, but they'll have to do so without several key players, including captain Denis Zakaria, winger Aleksandr Golovin and goalkeeper Lucas Hradecky.
In order to get a result in Belgium, the Principality side will thus have to rely on a cadre of young players, including the very impressive Aladji Bamba, who made his first start at the weekend, and is expected to partner Lamina Camara in the absence of Zakaria. Manager Adi Hütter brushed aside concerns about his missing veterans, preferring to focus on his young side's potential as he said of Zakaria being missing, "He is a special player, but I do not want to complain about his absence. Because I am also happy to see that Bamba had a fantastic full debut at Auxerre. He is a fantastic young talent and can be a replacement for Denis."
👋 @ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/ZKfNllctBo
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) September 17, 2025
A dangerous opponent
Hütter also addressed that despite the Belgian top flight being lesser thought of than the French, having seen this team progress to the Round of 16 in this competition, he is expecting a fierce battle from a club that knocked out Atalanta. Said the manager, "Club Bruges is a very good team that has played in the Champions League several times in recent seasons and managed to reach the round of 16 last season. They notably won against Atalanta, who are a great team."
Moreover, the Belgians will face few injuries of their own, but have faced an uneven start to the season, winning just three of their six matches, scoring only seven goals in that span. They did impress in beating Scottish side Rangers in the play-off round, but will need to be at their level best to get a result against the visitors.
Predicted XIs:
Club Brugge (4-2-3-1): Mignolet; Sabbe, Ordo˜nez, Mechele, Meijer; Onyedika, Stankovic; Forbs, Vanaken, Tzolis; Tresoldi
AS Monaco (4-4-2): Köhn; Vanderson, Dier, Mawissa, Henrique; Akliouche, Camara, Bamba, Minamino; Biereth, Balogun
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