AS Monaco were held to a 0-0 draw by Juventus on Wednesday, but it was sufficient for the Principality club to qualify for the Champions League playoffs.
Sébastien Pocognoli made reference to the deluge of rain that had beaten down on the Principality over the course of the 24 hours that preceded the game against Juventus as a metaphor for the state of affairs. “A grey period,” he referred to it as, but as the afternoon turned to evening, the clouds gave way to clearer skies, and the draw against the Serie A giants alluded to sunnier skies ahead for Les Monégasques.
The feeling, Pocognoli insisted, was not one of “relief” but in light of the “negative energy and pressure” that surrounds the squad, he told his players to “savour the evening”. The final whistle did not immediately relieve the tension in the air, as the Stade Louis II waited with bated breath the results from elsewhere. But the calculations were done pre-match, and Pocognoli knew that a point “almost ensured” qualification. So it transpired. Monaco, at times, were on the brink of elimination, with results elsewhere going against them, but not once did they fall out of the top 24 (synonymous with qualification for the play-offs) and by the end of play, they finished 21st. An encounter with either PSG or Newcastle United awaits them in the next round.
Pragmatism prevails for Pocognoli
The Monaco manager called on his players to be “intelligent” and “audacious” against Juventus. It was the former that was more required as, arguably for the first time in the Pocognoli regime, pragmatism reigned over idealism. In view of the scenario heading into the match, the Belgian set his side up in a back three with Denis Zakaria as the anchor. Post-match, he would call the captain, as well as centre-back partners Jordan Teze and Thilo Kehrer, and goalkeeper Philipp Kohn, “the guardians of the team”.
Juventus never laid a glove on Monaco, failing to register a single shot on target. The Italian side’s attack was deficient, as Luciano Spalletti was left bemoaning his side’s inability to match the host’s “physicality”. It was Juventus who came into this game with the loftier ambitions, targeting an improbable place in the top eight, which would have allowed them to skip the play-offs.
But they conceded the bigger chances, firstly from Maghnes Akliouche inside the first 60 seconds. Presented the ball by Mattia Perin, the France international could not find the target with the goal gaping. Folarin Balogun did have the ball in the back of the net minutes later, but the former Arsenal forward was adjudged to have fouled Pierre Kalulu in the build-up.
Pocognoli salutes Zakaria’s “best game of the season”
The Juve goalkeeper was worked before the break, with a close-range Vanderson effort tipped over, and it was the Brazilian again who forced Perin into an intervention with a long-range effort just before the break. Juventus tried to summon a response, bringing Kenan Yildiz and Vasilije Adzic off the bench at half-time.
Both were largely ineffective against what Spalletti called a “compact” Monaco defence. And it was the hosts who always looked the most dangerous, whenever they had the chance to spring forward. As the game ticked towards the 90, Juventus’ chances of a top-eight finish had evaporated, the result of scores elsewhere; it was clear that a point would be enough for Monaco. You got the impression that both teams were happy to call it quits just after the hour mark, and so neither side really forced the issue – a goalless draw, therefore, the logical conclusion.
It was a performance of promise, notably for Zakaria, such a key player, but so out of sorts for much of this season. “Denis played an exemplary match […] it was certainly his best match of the season,” reacted Pocognoli. He was key in securing a clean sheet, Monaco’s second in succession, following the 0-0 draw to Le Havre over the weekend.
For Kohn, the defensive showing forms a “base” for Monaco, and that is key given how shaky the foundations have been this season. Finally, there is something positive to cling to, as progression in the Champions League – and the manner of it – slightly lifts the clouds, without burning them back completely. Kohn insisted on “step by step, match by match,” and the next one, against Rennes on Saturday, will be key to lifting the mood further.
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Photo source: AS Monaco