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Football: Monaco get the better of Barcelona in the battle of the prestigious academies

by: Luke Entwistle
20/09/2024
Saimon Bouabré on the ball as AS Monaco's academy take on Barcelona in La Turbie.

Before the main event took place on Thursday evening, AS Monaco beat Barcelona (4-3) to get their UEFA Youth League campaign off to the perfect start in La Turbie.

It was one of the graduates from Monaco’s prestigious La Diagonale academy, Maghnes Akliouche, who netted the opener in the senior side’s 2-1 victory over Barcelona inside a packed Stade Louis II. The likes of Saimon Bouabré, John Tincres and Mayssam Benama dream of following a similar trajectory asthe France youth international; Bouabré in particular showed that he has the technical ability to do so in the future, but it was a strong collective performance that allowed Monaco to defeat arguably the most prestigious academy in world football – La Masia.

Besides the swathes of physical and technical quality, Djimi Traoré’s displayed their mental fortitude in a match in which they had to twice come from behind. Despite starting with intensity, it was Barcelona who took the lead through Arnau Pradas, before Hugo Alba then doubled the Spanish side’s lead from the spot.

Joan Tincres in action for AS Monaco. Photo credit: Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life

It was an uphill battle to get back into the match but Les Monégasques finished the first half with a flourish. Nick Mokabakila found Tincres at the back post and, buoyed by halving the deficit, the highly impressive Bouabré drew Monaco level with a sumptuous curling effort. That quickfire double saw Monaco head into the break level, however, there was once again a drop-off upon the return from the dressing room.

It was a lack of coordination and intensity in the press that allowed Barcelona to re-seize control of the fixture. “One of our principles of play is to try and win the ball high, go and press them,  but when you’re late in doing so, that hurts […] when you’re playing against strong sides, you have to choose the right moments to go and press,” reflected Traoré post-match.

In front of the onlooking Deco and Bojan Krkic, both legends of La Masia, Pedro Fernandez Sarmiento put Barcelona back in the lead. However, Monaco’s response was immediate. It was once again Mokabakila who found Tincres in the box, with the latter making no mistake with his finish.

Lorenzo Carvalho celebrates his match winner against Barcelona. Photo credit: Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life

Then, with the game seemingly drifting towards a draw, Tincres, scorer of a brace, turned the provider, sliding through Lorenzo Carvalho, who kept his composure to put Monaco 4-3 up and secure the win. “It was a big challenge to play against a team like Barcelona […] they hurt us but we showed a lot of character; that is what I liked,” reacted Traoré.

That “character” will also have impressed club CEO Thiago Scuro, who was in attendance alongside president Dmitry Rybolovlev and technical director Carlos Aviña. Their presence highlights the continued importance of developing players at AS Monaco, and just like the former Diagonale players who shone under the bright lights against Barcelona on Thursday night, the next generation will be looking to accelerate their development over the course of this UEFA Youth League campaign – next up, Dinamo Zagreb.

 

Monaco Life is produced by real multi-media journalists writing original content. See more in our free newsletter, follow our Podcasts on Spotify, and check us out on Threads,  Facebook,  Instagram,  LinkedIn and Tik Tok. 

Photo credit: Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life

Football: Monaco upset Barcelona to ensure triumphant Champions League return

by: Luke Entwistle
20/09/2024
Akliouche celebrates with his Monaco teammates as they take the lead against Barcelona in the Champions League.

It has been six years since AS Monaco were in the Champions League, and seven years since they won a match in a competition. That run came to an end against Barcelona in what was a euphoric night at the Stade Louis II. 

“I’ll have goosebumps when the [Champions League] anthem rings out,” said manager Adi Hütter pre-match. Whilst there was certainly an element of awe as Champions League football returned to a sold-out Stade Louis II, Monaco’s players quickly applied themselves to the task at hand.

In front of a star-studded crowd, which included the likes of Michael Jordan, Didier Deschamps and Prince Albert II, Les Monégasques had what can only be described as the perfect start. The same intensity that has guided the Principality club to third in Ligue 1 was on display and provoked the first key moment of the match.

Akliouche overcomes ‘goosebumps’ to give Monaco perfect start

Takumi Minamino picked Eric García’s pocket on the edge of the box. The Spaniard, almost instinctively, hauled the Japan international to the ground, leaving the referee without any choice but to brandish a red card. Monaco’s evening would get better just minutes later as Maghnes Akliouche, on his Champions League debut, cut inside and finished past a stranded Marc-André Ter Stegen.

Like Akliouche, he also admitted to having “goosebumps” during the anthem, but like his manager and the rest of his teammates, he put his emotions aside to get the job done. “I think I did what I had to this evening,” said the France U21 international.

However, nervousness kicked in. Monaco, until then, had been the underdogs; it was a tag that suited them. But they were now the favourites. The intensity dropped and Barcelona equalised.

Hütter was so concerned about Lamine Yamal running the show that he started Vanderson, a right-back, over on the left. But the Monaco full-back, in an unfamiliar position, couldn’t prevent Yamal from getting on the scoresheet. The 17-year-old, who lit up the Euros with Spain equalised with a near-identical finish to Akliouche’s just moments earlier.

Monaco had possession, were well set, but failed to create anything other than half-chances. Barcelona, who have won all five of their games in La Liga, scoring 17 goals in the process, looked dangerous on the break. “It sometimes isn’t an advantage when you have an extra player,” said Hütter. For a long time, it showed.

But with the game drifting, the Austrian manager made a game-changing intervention. Off came the ineffective Breel Embolo, and on came George Ilenikhena. Folarin Balogun then made his entrance moments later. The duo wreaked havoc and it was the former who got the winner.

Vanderson, who struggled defensively at times, picked out Ilenikhena’s well-timed run with a sublime cross-field path. The summer signing, baring down on goal then beat ter Stegen to restore Les Monégasques’ lead.

‘Winning against Barça, one of the biggest clubs in the world, makes us proud’ – Hütter

In the lead, looking for their first Champions League in 15 attempts, therewas certainly nervousness; Hütter himself admitted that there were “some situations” where that was the case, but he emphasised his side’s bravery, both pre and post-match, and that above all was on show as they held out for the three points.

“I am really proud and really happy. I am happy for the club and the fans. I think we deserved to win this match for sure tonight. Winning against Barça, one of the biggest clubs in the world, makes us proud and gives us confidence,” reacted Hütter.

“Tonight is for celebrating,” he added. It is a victory that will go down as one of Monaco’s greatest in recent history and it will be savoured. But this “brave” and youthful team looks more than capable of producing more magic moments over the course of this Champions League campaign.

 

Monaco Life is produced by real multi-media journalists writing original content. See more in our free newsletter, follow our Podcasts on Spotify, and check us out on Threads,  Facebook,  Instagram,  LinkedIn and Tik Tok. 

 

Photo credit: AS Monaco

Football: Monaco start with a win as Ligue 1 makes long-awaited return

by: Luke Entwistle
18/08/2024
Monaco's players celebrate after Takumi Minamino's strike is awarded as a goal after a lengthy VAR check.

AS Monaco got their Ligue 1 campaign off to a winning start, beating newly-promoted AS Saint-Étienne (1-0) at a packed Stade Louis II on Saturday evening.

It is a season like no other for Monaco, who celebrate their centenary later this month. With Champions League football also returning to the Principality, it is a season that promises to be special, and it got off to the perfect start.

This opening day was less about the Principality club and more about Saint-Étienne, a fallen giant of French football back on the rise following promotion to the top flight last season. Over 14,000 fans packed into the Stade Louis II, and many of them were supporting Les Verts, who were in an understandably festive mood as they returned to the elite.

Breel Embolo almost silenced them in the third minute with a bullet header from close range, but Gautier Larsonneur was equal to the effort, parrying the shot away.

Whilst Monaco looked superior for large periods, controlling the game through the impressive duo of newly-apppointed club captain Denis Zakaria and new signing Lamine Camara, Saint-Étienne created chances of their own on the break. All of them fell to Ibrahim Sissoko, and luckily for Monaco, he wasn’t in clinical form, squandering a number of chances throughout the game, notably failing to beat Philipp Köhn in a one-on-one.

Sissoko denied twice by the offside flag for Saint-Étienne

The Principality club thought they had taken the lead through Takumi Minamino, only for a tight offside call to deny the Japanese international. Sissoko had the ball in the back of the Monaco net just seconds later, but his effort was ruled out for a much more obvious offside call.

Minamino had the ball in the back of the net once again seven minutes later, but there was no reaction from the forward with the flag immediately raised. However, this time, VAR came to Monaco’s rescue, with the Japanese forward adjudged to have been marginally offside.

Heading into the second half, Monaco continued to dominate, but they couldn’t add to their advantage, despite creating a set of good half-chances. The fear of being punished for profligacy was always there and it was seemingly realised with just under 20 minutes remaining.

Sissoko found the back of the net for the second time on the night, latching on to Zuriko Davitashvili’s cross. With the game about to restart, a collective sigh of relief spread around the Stade Louis II with Davitashvili adjudged to be ever-so marginally offside.

Despite losing captain Zakaria, and Eliesse Ben Seghir to cramp, Monaco held on to secure the victory that, according to manager Adi Hütter, was more resounding than the scoreline suggested.

Hütter unhappy with state of Stade Louis II pitch

“I’m happy with the result. When you look [at the score], it looks like a 50/50 game but with the chances we had, we could have won by many more; we should have scored more goals,” said the Monaco manager.

Whilst Hütter called for improvements from his side, both in defence and in attack, he also called for improvements to the recently relaid surface at the Stade Louis II, which was not up to scratch for the return of Ligue 1 football.

“The pitch wasn’t good, not in a top condition […] the people in charge should work as quick as possible to bring it into a decent condition,” he said. With Monaco travelling to face Lyon next week, groundstaff have a fortnight, until the arrival of Lens on 1st September, to get the pitch up to scratch.

An imperfect performance, an imperfect pitch too, but Monaco ensured that this special centenary season got off to the perfect start.

 

Monaco Life is produced by real multi-media journalists writing original content. See more in our free newsletter, follow our Podcasts on Spotify, and check us out on Threads,  Facebook,  Instagram,  LinkedIn and Tik Tok. 

Photo source: AS Monaco

Love the Ocean blessed by Archbishop, Yvan Griboval set to embark on new species-saving adventure

by: Cassandra Tanti
04/07/2023

Monaco’s expedition catamaran Love the Ocean has been blessed by Archbishop Dominique-Marie David ahead of its departure in September. Skippered by explorer Yvan Griboval, the boat will embark on an eight-year mission to collect data on the little-known health benefits of sea sponges to help save them from extinction.

The catamaran Love the Ocean is part of the OceanoScientific family, a philanthropic association that organises sailing expeditions that have no CO2 emissions in regions of the seas that have seldom been explored, if at all, to increase knowledge of the oceans and of the causes and consequences of climate change and pollution.

One such location is the coral reefs of Juan de Nova, located in the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and Africa, in the Indian Ocean.

As part of the OceanoScientific Expeditions 2023-2030, Yvan Griboval will depart on 21st September from the Yacht Club de Monaco for an adventure to the Eparses Islands onboard the Love The Ocean catamaran. The aim: to collect the genetic data of different species of sponges and help prove the economic value of keeping this ancient organism, which is facing accelerated extinction, alive.

Sponges are believed to be the oldest animals on the planet. Photo credit: Karl Callwood, Unsplash

The oldest animal of the sea

Relatives of the humble sea sponge have filtered Earth’s waters for 650 million years or more, long before the first plants took to land. Their simplicity has led scientists to suggest sponges were the earliest animals to arise on our planet.

Today, the descendants of these amazing organisms are under the severe threat of the Sixth Extinction due to human activity.

OceanoScientific is therefore on a mission to help safeguard their biological heritage and preserve it for future generations.

One way of achieving this is by identifying the value that their molecules can have on human health and future new therapies.

“Let’s stop piling up alarmist scientific findings, let’s consider the Ocean as the most gigantic resource of humanity and let’s demonstrate that ecology and economy can be effectively married,” says Griboval.

“By bioprospecting little-known sponges on little-explored reefs using an oceanographic sailboat, using only three to five centimetre samples analysed biologically and genetically according to innovative techniques, we are inventing a virtuous development of an as yet unknown underwater resources, for the benefit of the sites of origin of these organisms.”

Juan de Nova is a French-controlled tropical island in the narrowest part of the Mozambique Channel

Scientific objectives

The OceanoScientific Expeditions 2023-2030 are the first sailing oceanographic campaigns in the Eparses Islands to explore all facets of sponge biodiversity. The aim is to make an inventory of species in situ by molecular extraction onboard the Love The Ocean.

The result will be a genetic database of marine organisms in the service of science, health, wellbeing and the environment. It will be a reference collection of tissues and extracts that will then be the subject of an integrative and interdisciplinary study.

The aim is to provide chemists with methods that could reproduce these molecules by biomimicry.

More than DNA collection and analysis

​Every 10 seconds, the OceanoScientific System (OCS System) will be used to collect and automatically transmit every hour new data of the Air-Sea interface, feeding the international weather forecasting and operational oceanography centres and providing new information on climate in remote locations.

In addition to the oceanographic campaigns in the Eparses Islands, from May to July the explorer will also be studying the universe of sponges on the Mediterranean coasts, looking for new species, together with students.

As the future protectors of the ocean, children are a major focus of OceanoScientific. On Thursday, school children from local CM1 and CM2 classes were at the Yacht Club de Monaco to witness the blessing of Love The Ocean by Archbishop Dominique-Marie David and hear more about the expedition. Through education, the association is hoping to inspire this generation towards the New Maritime Professions in the Blue Economy, seeing the value that lies within the sea.

The blessing ceremony on Thursday ended with the singing of the ‘Anthem of the Ocean: Love the Ocean’, produced by the Oceanoscientific Monaco association and written and performed by Monegasque singe Olivia Dorato.

Prince Albert has been a supporter of Yvan Griboval and his environmental causes for many years. Photo source: YCM

Backed by Monaco and Prince Albert

On Saturday 24th June, Yvan Griboval presented the 2023-2030 major initiatives of the OceanoScientific association to Prince Albert II of Monaco, as the Sovereign made a special visit to the Love The Ocean catamaran, currently moored in the Yacht Club de Monaco’s berth spaces.

Among the topics discussed was the Mediterranean Of The Future operation, to which the Principality of Monaco is committed and whose colours the Love The Ocean bears.

 

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SEE ALSO:

OceanoScientific welcomed home

Featured image by Monaco Life

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Monaco to release Prince Rainier III commemorative coin

by: Cassandra Tanti
25/05/2023

Prince Albert has ordered a special €2 coin be made for the commemoration of the centenary of the birth of his father, Prince Rainier III, which will be free for Monegasque citizens.

The Mairie has announced that the special commemorative €2 coin will be available free of charge to Monegasque citizens from 31st May, the day the official celebratory period kicks off and the actual day that Prince Rainier was born in 1923.

People can pick up their coins from the Mairie between 2:30pm and 10:30pm on Wednesday 31st May, and from the Museum of Stamps and Coins thereafter.

A Monegasque identity card must be presented to receive the coin free of charge.

The general public can purchase the limited-edition coin online only at https://www.mtm-monaco.mc from 1stJune. Only one purchase per person is allowed.

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Photo by Monaco Life

Banque Havilland announces new Porsche Supercup partnership

by: Cassandra Tanti
23/05/2023

Banque Havilland has announced a new partnership with the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, which is raced ahead of the F1 grand prix. 

The Porsche Supercup, officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the Formula 1 world championship.

This new partnership will put the Banque Havilland branding on the Porsche race cars and its clients on the race track, be it in the grand stand or even in a Porsche cockpit.

“We are delighted to begin our partnership with Banque Havilland. It is an exciting new energy for the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and we are glad to welcome them onboard,” said Oliver Schwab, Project Manager Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. “This sponsorship is the latest addition to our fantastic portfolio of partners, and we look forward to supporting Banque Havilland’s aim of driving deeper engagement within their community of partners and clients.”

Banque Havilland was established in 2009 and is privately owned. Its headquarters are in Luxembourg and the group operates other locations in Monaco, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Dubai and the UK.

The thrill of the race

The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars will run their laps prior to the F1 race cars at the Monaco Grand Prix and seven other races this year at locations including Silverstone and Budapest.

Professionals, rookies and pro-ams will compete against each other in identical cars – so all teams and drivers have the same chances.

The Supercup provides a platform for up-and-coming racing drivers to make a name for themselves. Rookie Max van Splunteren won the Rookie Classification in 2020, and then managed to secure a position on the grid at the world famous 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“We are thrilled to joining forces with Porsche. It is an exciting and purposeful opportunity for Banque Havilland to join the family of Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup,” said Marc Arand, Group CEO. “In racing, in sports, and luxury cars in general, the maxim is to develop everything to perfection and to achieve excellence in execution. This is also reflected in our values with which we offer our clients the best service every day. The constant questioning of established routines is the key to success and one example is the staging of the racing series with renewable racing fuels.

“Through this partnership, Banque Havilland can support the move towards a more climate-friendly racing in the future and will continue to reach our clients and partners in new and exciting ways, sharing a common passion, while delivering unique experiences in Europe”.

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“Every crisis creates opportunities, and for us it is an opportunity to be very well placed in the Monaco banking sector”

 

Photo source: Banque Havilland