On a tense Wednesday night at the Stade Louis-II, AS Monaco suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Benfica in the first leg of their Champions League playoff. Under the watchful eye of club president Dmitry Rybolovlev, the Red and Whites came into the match looking for redemption after a previous loss to the Portuguese side.
Adi Hütter’s men started strong, with Maghnes Akliouche testing Benfica’s defense early, but the visitors held firm. The match took a turn just after halftime when Vangelis Pavlidis pounced on a defensive lapse to fire Benfica ahead. Moments later, Moatasem Al-Musrati was controversially sent off, leaving Monaco to battle with ten men.
Despite heroic goalkeeping from Radosław Majecki, Monaco struggled to break through Benfica’s disciplined defence. Denis Zakaria came close to equalising, but the Lisbon side held on for the win.
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The Monegasques now face an uphill battle in the return leg at Estádio da Luz on Tuesday, February 18, where they’ll need a near-perfect performance to keep their Champions League dreams alive.
