Barcelona is self-destructive.
AS Monaco, which played the first round of the 2024-2025 UEFA Champions League (UCL) phase at Louis II Stadium in Monaco on the 20th (Korea time), produced an extraordinary win over Barcelona 2-1.
Both teams were in good spirits ahead of the match. Barcelona was leading the Spanish La Liga with victories, while Monaco had three wins and one draw in the French Ligue 1. Most favored Barcelona, which scored as many as 11 points in the previous two matches.
Barcelona, however, was bogged down by goalkeeper Marc-Andre Terstegen and defensive midfielder Eric Garcia, who made the worst mistakes. When the ball was spinning from the back in the 10th minute in the first half, Garcia went down to collect Terstegen's ball. But instead of picking it up, he suddenly changed direction and started to lose breathing. Knowing he would come all along, Terstegen had already made a short pass, but at this rate, he was about to get an interception from Monaco.
The embarrassed Garcia held on to the opponent and knocked him down while stretching, and he was declared to leave because he interfered with the decisive scoring opportunity.
They were outnumbered in the first 10 minutes, but Barcelona held on well. When Magnes Akliusch scored the first goal in the 6th minute with the assist of Monaco defender Van der Song, Barcelona's star Ramin Yamal tied it in the 28th minute.
However, it was difficult for Barcelona, which gave up the initiative, to endure until the end. In the 26th minute of the second half, van der Song's second assist was connected to Georges Ilenikena, who was deployed as Monaco's Joker, and the winning goal was scored.
In the first game, Barcelona's recent rise has been cut off as it has lost its strength and missed the result of the game.
Barcelona coach Han Ji-flick said after the match, "We have to admit that our opponents deserved to win. We just have to do well and come back stronger. We still have seven more games to play," adding, "With the return of the injured players, our strength will be stronger."
As the coach said, Barcelona was not able to use Andreas Christensen, Dani Olmo, Fermin López, Marc Bernal, Ronald Araujo, Gavi, and Frenkie Theyong. In particular, the position with the biggest problem is the center. Among the injured players, Deyong, Bernal, and Gavi are 메이저사이트 midfielders and Christensen are also center backs, but the midfield has become incredibly thin as they all fell out. With Garcia's exit on top of that, the midfield combination for the next game faces even bigger problems. Barcelona's next UCL match will be against Young Voice on October 2. Before that, one of the injured midfielders needs to return to form a lineup.