UCL Recap: Monaco battle to draw with Spurs
It was honors even at the Stade-Louis II against an English side once more for AS Monaco on Wednesday night, as Sébastien Pocognoli led his time for the first time in Europe, battling Tottenham Hotpsur to a scoreless draw. Get the latest with our match report.
Pocognoli makes do
After making his Ligue 1 McDonald's bow at the weekend against Angers, it was time for new manager Sébastien Pocognoli to face a European opponent. As he had on Saturday, he was without several key players and once again played a 3-4-3 with Maghnes Akliouche and Ansu Fati flanking Folarin Balogun. Caio Henrique played as a makeshift centre back in the three, as he had at the weekend.
Despite Pocognoli having to put together a somewhat makeshift eleven, the Monégasques started the match the brighter, keeping Guglielmo Vicario busy in the Spurs goal with the lion's share of chances even as they ceded possession. Despite this, both Balogun (10') and Akliouche (13') were denied, and the match churned on with Monaco continuing to harry their opponents with a high press. That profligacy nearly cost Monaco with twenty minutes gone, but Micky van de Ven headed over from close range and the encounter remained scoreless.
Game over.
We deserved more.
0️⃣-0️⃣ #ASMTOT pic.twitter.com/hniGFOeIKG— AS Monaco EN 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco_EN) October 22, 2025
Monaco would respond with a speculative effort by Akliouche that Vicario gratefully palmed clear, before the French international played in Balogun (27'), but the American was denied inside the six yard box. Mohamed Kudus was next to try his luck, but his low effort under pressure was saved by Philipp Köhn (35') before Balogun was again denied in his side's best chance of the half on a clever through ball (37'). Neither side were able to find a breakthrough, though and halftime game with the game still scoreless.
A rash of missed chances for Monaco
The second half was more tepid, with a free kick by Pedro Porro the only chance to speak of for Spurs, but substitutes made the game come to life as first Aleksandr Golovin (67') was denied and then Thilo Kehrer (68') saw a header flash wide. Vicario then saves his team's blushes again with fifteen minutes to play as he denied Jordan Teze following a clever ball by Henrique. It was then the turn of Takumi Minamino, also on off the bench to fire wide (82'), as Monaco struggled to finish their chances, and with a final letoff as Spurs missed a chance just before full time, the match finished scoreless, leaving the Monégasques with two points from three matches ahead of a trip to Bodo/Glimt in a fortnight.
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