March 13. Monaco lost to a pretty good Strasbourg 0:1 and after the 28th round is in ninth place in Ligue 1. The Euro Cup zone is 6 points away, the Champions League is 9 away.
May 21. Monaco missed out on a win against Lens in dramatic fashion, conceding on 90+5’. A very disappointing defeat for Monaco fans betting on ggbet world. But the Lens fans, obviously, had no reason to be upset.
In between these dates there is a beautiful series of nine wins in a row, thanks to which the team soared into the Champions League zone. The missed goal from Lens dropped Monaco from second place (group stage of the Champions League) to third (qualification to the Champions League).
Still, Monaco’s rise is one of the most surprising stories of the spring.
Monaco changed coaches on New Year’s Day. At first it was awful
On January 1, Niko Kovac was removed from the club. A controversial decision: the team had a weak season, failed to qualify for the Champions League, but finished 2021 with one defeat in 11 games.
The main reason seemed to be discord within the team. L’Equipe reported that Kovacs saw himself as a military leader, and some players (central midfielder Youssouf Fofana, for example) were against the coach. Funny, but the same L’Equipe then gave an inside story that the players were shocked to learn about the firing. They thought that under pressure Kovac would simply become less demanding.
A replacement was found very quickly – Philippe Clément, who won the Belgian championship three years in a row (once with Genk and twice with Brugge).
It’s hopeless from here on out.
Three wins, three draws and three losses in Ligue 1. A rollback from seventh to ninth position, but more frightening was the growth of the gap. Kovac left, leaving the team one win away from the European Cup and two away from the Champions League. Under Clement, the gap from the top five was widening.
– The departure from the French Cup in the semi-finals from Nantes. Totally fair, although it was a brilliant chance to take the trophy, given that PSG were eliminated back in the 1/8.
– The exit from the Europa League in 1/8 against Braga. And for good reason, too! Losing 0-3 over the course of two games, Monaco were poking helplessly at an armored bus.
It seemed that the team was in for a purge. According to L’Equipe, club owner Dmitry Rybolovlev decided to remove the entire management team: coach Clément, sporting director Paul Mitchell (ex-Leipzig) and vice-president Oleg Petrov. Media specified that the result of the match with PSG, which followed immediately after Braga, would not affect the verdict.
Monaco destroyed PSG 3-0. And suddenly came to its senses, continuing to score maximum points.
It’s sad that the breakthrough to the next level did not happen, but back in the winter Monaco was very bad. The finish is promising.