Monaco stops Barcelona’s victories
French Monaco beat its guest, Spanish Barcelona, 2-1, at Louis II Stadium, in the first round of the league stage of the competition. Champions League.
The French team’s goals were scored by Magnus Akliuch and George Elenikhina in the 16th and 71st minutes, while Barcelona’s goal was scored by Lamine Yamal in the 28th minute.
With this result, he won Monaco His first 3 points, to become in 13th place, while Barcelona remained without points in 23rd place.
The referee showed a direct red card to Barcelona defender Eric Garcia after his violent tackle on Minamino in the 10th minute.
Monaco players celebrate their win (Reuters)
Magnus Akliuch scored the opening goal for Monaco in the 16th minute, as he dribbled past the Barça defence and fired a powerful shot from inside the area, scoring the opening goal for the home team.
The French pressure continued, with a shot from Camara going wide of the Catalan giant’s goal in the 21st minute.
Barcelona players celebrate the equaliser (Reuters)
Lamine Yamal brought Barça back into the game, scoring the equaliser in the 28th minute, firing a rocket from outside the area into the net of goalkeeper Philippe Kuhn.
Monaco players tried, through shots from Ben Seghir and Minamino, but they passed without threatening Barcelona’s goal.
At the start of the second half, Vanderson fired a powerful shot, but goalkeeper Ter Stegen brilliantly saved it in the 57th minute.
Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal celebrates scoring his first goal for Jules Kounde (Reuters)
Monaco deserved to win
German Hansi Flick, the coach of the Catalan club, believes that Monaco deserves to win against Barcelona.
“The game changed after the expulsion. We defended with enthusiasm, but we made some mistakes. We tried to score goals, but they deserved to win,” Flick said in statements reported by the Spanish newspaper “AS”.
Lamine Yamal, Barcelona star (Reuters)
“We lost, but now we have to come back stronger and prepare for Sunday’s game. Every player has to give their best and fight for the team. We will keep fighting,” he added.
The Spanish club’s coach concluded: “Monaco played very well, and that’s normal. They are fast, and we tried to defend as much as possible. They deserved to win (2-1).”
Monaco, the runner-up in the competition in 2004, got its first 3 points in the continental championship, while Barcelona, which has 5 titles in the competition, remained without any points.
