Yesterday the remaining first leg matches of the last qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League will be played. Perhaps the most interesting clash will take place at the Valencia "Mestalla" stadium, where the hosts will seek to surprise the young "Monaco" team. The Eurofootball.com portal invites you to get to know the club from the principality.
American Hills
When in 2011 the "Monaco" club was acquired by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, he was ready to shake the established European football hierarchy from the ground up. At that time, Monaco club was going through very difficult times and played in the "Ligue 2" championship, so for many these ambitions did not seem serious.
However, in the summer of 2013, when "Monaco" returned to the highest French division, D. Rybolovlev actually started spending incredible amounts of money for players like Radamel Falcao, James Rodriguez, and Joao Moutinho.
In the first season back in "Ligue 1", the Monegasque club finished second. Unfortunately, after the season it became clear that "Monaco" had financial problems. The main reason for this was D. Rybolovlev's divorce from his wife. The court ruled that D. Rybolovlev will have to pay his wife an incredible 4.5 billion US dollars.
However, this summer after the appeal this amount was significantly reduced, but the loss of the owner's property, together with looming "Financial Fair Play" sanctions, meant that "Monaco" had to say goodbye to R. Falcao and J. Rodriguez.
Many fans did not like the unfulfilled promises, but "Monaco" managed to emerge from the crisis quite successfully. We can say that this club has seen it all in the last four years.
Now their driving force is young players. "Monaco" has become a selling club again, but despite that, they have a competitive team for now.
A Summer of Changes
One of the leaders of last season, Geoffrey Kondogbia, left "Monaco", but the club acted quickly and rented Croatian Mario Pasalic from Chelsea. He quickly filled the vacancy left by G. Kondogbia in the midfield.
However, in the last couple of weeks "Monaco" has faced some bigger problems. While G. Kondogbia's departure was expected and there was enough time to prepare for it, the situation is different with defenders Aymen Abdennour and Layvin Kurzawa.
The first one openly expresses his desire to move abroad, and L. Kurzawa is expected to join "Paris Saint-Germain" in the near future. Rumors, most likely, are not lying - neither of them has been included in the squad for the match against "Valencia".
Another problem is the injury of J. Moutinho, which will keep him out of the team for about six weeks.
Young Talents
The age distribution in the "Monaco" team is quite clear. On the back line, the European football veterans Jeremy Toulalan and Ricardo Carvalho lead, while the attack is created and executed by the youngsters.
Two names stand out. This is now undoubtedly the main "Monaco" striker Anthony Martial and attacking midfielder Bernardo Silva.
Martial arrived in "Monaco" in 2013. He probably did not expect to break into the starting lineup so quickly when he had to compete with R. Falcao, and later with Dimitar Berbatov.
The well-built and fast 19-year-old forward has all the qualities to become a top-class striker. However, naturally, being 19, A. Martial has a lot of areas where he needs to improve. One of them is finishing attacks.
Meanwhile, B. Silva emerged out of nowhere last year. In France last year, he became known for his ability to score goals coming off the bench, and during the season, he started more and more matches.
At the beginning of this season, the Portuguese player has been coming off the bench again, but after J. Moutinho's injury, this should change.
Formation
Coach Leonardo Jardim is expected to deploy a 4-2-3-1 formation. The most intrigue is in the midfield.
If not for J. Moutinho's injury, we would have definitely seen him in the starting lineup, but the absence of the Portuguese will pose new concerns for the coach. Most likely, we will see B. Silva in the midfield from the start, but if L. Jardim decides to choose a more cautious option, defensive midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko could start in the midfield.
The possible "Monaco" lineup for the match against "Valencia":
