Monaco starts the new season well, and in their last match before it, they defeated Barcelona 3-0 as guests in a friendly. They also defeated Osser 3-0 as guests in the league over the weekend, where they have been unbeaten since the start of the season and have only conceded one goal. This gives reasons for optimism to the team's fans, who will see them in the Champions League group stage for the first time in six years.
A series of victories and excellent form for BarcelonaBarcelona is showing perfect form this season, which they will try to carry over to the Champions League. After three consecutive 2-1 wins, they started winning convincingly. They crushed Valladolid 7-0, and on Sunday they defeated Girona 4-1 as guests. Now Barca will have to cope without the injured Dani Olmo, who scored one of the goals in the last match.
Prediction: both teams to score, over 2.5 goalsThe season is starting well for both teams at the local level, especially for Barcelona. Overall, the prospects for goals are promising, and I expect to see a high-scoring clash.
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After 5 years of absence, Monaco returns to the Champions League group stage. And they do it with a home match against Barcelona on Thursday at their "Stade Louis II" in the Principality. This will be a match between two top teams that are performing very well in their leagues. Let's take a look behind the scenes to see the details that could tilt the balance in one direction or the other.
Let's start with the hosts. Conceding only one goal in the first 4 matches in Ligue 1 clearly shows that the defense of Adi Hütter's boys is functioning excellently. However, the Austrian coach is still looking for the best configuration in his team and made a total of 7 changes between the matches against Lens and Auxerre in the last two rounds. Now it seems that things are clearer and they will play with Caio Henrique on the left, Tchouameni on the right, with Tchouameni and Salisu in the center of defense. This seems like the optimal back four for Monaco.
Will it do the job? Caio Henrique and Tchouameni are super active on the wings, but this can bring risks when facing Lamine Yamal and Rafinha. The two wingers, along with number ten Dani Olmo, have scored a total of 9 goals since the beginning of the season in La Liga - three each. Ahead of them is Lewandowski with 4. These four will be very difficult to contain at the "Stade Louis II" and they will probably play a huge role for Barcelona in this match. Especially pay attention to Lewandowski, who will be super motivated to score, as he has 94 goals in the UCL and will try to join Ronaldo and Messi to surpass the 100-goal mark in the tournament.
Pay attention to Monaco's set pieces as well. The team from the Principality has scored several goals from set pieces so far this season and knows how to use its height advantage. Despite all the merits of Monaco, I expect a tough victory for Bar?a in one of the most beautiful matches of the evening in the Champions League.
This text is an AI-assisted translation in English. Link to the original source in Bulgarian ?
