Monaco marked their return to Europe for the first time in five years with a remarkable performance, which culminated in a 2-1 defeat of a ten-man Barça side.
A calamitous start from Barça’s goalkeeper, one of their midfielders, and the referee created an eventful fixture at the Stade Louis II on Thursday night.
With a little over ten minutes, Marc-André ter Stegen’s terrible pass left Eric Garcia in a state of discombobulation, which resulted in the Spaniard being outwitted by Japanese winger, Takumi Minamino. As the last man, Garcia couldn’t do anything aside bringing down the nimble-footed winger – a decision that confirmed his exit from the match.
Monaco swiftly took the lead shortly after the incident when Maghned Akliouche’s marauding run ended with him thumping home at the near post.
It took only a dozen minutes after Monaco’s opener before Hansi Flick’s side responded in a similar fashion as 17-year-old Lamine Yamal took the game by the scruff of the neck, stepping in of the right to slam home the Balugrana’s swift equalizer in front of NBA legend Michael Jordan who watched on from the stands.
It took the offside flag to deny Wilftied Singo’s strike from putting the hosts back in front, and despite the subsequent huff and puff, the proceedings remained in a stalemate at halftime.
The match followed the same pattern in the second period, with Monaco enjoying their good moments. Expectedly, the numerical disadvantage took its toll on the visitors, and they bowed to the pressure from Adi Hütter’s side, who had just twenty minutes left to play.
A defensive calamity from the Barça defenders, who were hoping for an offside call from the linesman, allowed substitute George Ilenikhena to stride through and fire home Monaco back ahead on his maiden UEFA Champions League appearance.
Barcelona have now lost three of their last ten visits to France (W2, D5). And if there’s anything to take away from this clash, Villareal – who hosts Barca on Sunday – now knows that Barcelona are humans after all.
