After a five-goal game in Germany, Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen meet again in the south of France to try to qualify for the UEFA Europa League round of 16 for the second consecutive season. The League team starts as the favorite in the statistics because of its victory in the first leg.
Monaco reached the knockout stage play-offs after taking second place in a tightly contested UEFA Europa League Group H, where they finished level on points with group winners Ferencváros.
Leverkusen enjoyed a tough UEFA Champions League campaign, failing to find the net in four of their six Group B games, but qualifying for the UEFA Europa League by taking third place on five points at the expense of Atlético from Madrid.
Previous meetings Monaco opened the scoring in the first leg at the BayArena with an own goal from Lukas Hradecky, but Leverkusen responded with two superb early second-half goals from Moussa Diaby and Florian Wirtz before Krépin Diatta n equalizes with an equally superb strike, minutes from time.
The decisive goal came two minutes into added time, with Monaco captain Axel Disasi’s powerful and precise strike earning the visitors a famous victory -. The six meetings between the clubs prior to this game have taken place in the UEFA Champions League group stage.
Monaco remained unbeaten in their first five meetings, with three wins, before losing – at the BayArena on matchday six in , although the French club have already clinched first place in the group and reached the semi-finals.
Monaco were also semi-finalists in , the season the clubs first met. It was Leverkusen’s first campaign in the UEFA Champions League and their first away game was a home defeat – at the Stade Louis II – with both teams advancing to the quarter-finals on points.
The two sides met in the UEFA Champions League group stage, with Monaco winning both encounters – to top the group on points, one more than Leverkusen. Curiously, in the previous three seasons that Monaco and Leverkusen have met, not only have both teams qualified in their group, but the French club has always seen its season come to an end against Juventus.
Monaco’s record against German teams in UEFA competitions is now wins, draws and losses; at home it is wins, draws and losses, although the last two meetings ended in defeat, against Leipzig -, and Borussia Dortmund -, in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
Leverkusen’s overall record against French clubs is now win-draw. Away it is wins, draws and defeats, the second of those wins having come on the last visit – against Nice on matchday 1 of the UEFA Europa League, when Diaby opened the scoring for the side. German.
On the Monaco Third League teams for the second consecutive season in , On points from defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco returned to the group stage of this year’s UEFA Europa League after dramatically losing their UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie in extra time to PSV Eindhoven – at home, – outside.
The Principality side were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League play-offs in extra time by Shakhtar Donetsk last season and are therefore taking part in the UEFA Europa League proper for the third time, after , where they were knocked out at the group stage , and last season, where they finished top of their group unbeaten with points before being knocked out by Braga in the round of 16 – away, – at home.
Opposed to three national champions, the Monegasques have not had it easy this year, but their opening and closing victories against Crvena zvezda – away – at home saw them qualify in second place, behind Ferencváros, against whom the Princes picked up only one point – at home, – away, but ahead of Trabzonspor – at home, – away.
Monaco have lost just two of their last ten European matches at the Stade Louis II, won five, and conceded a goal in each of their last six wins, draws and defeats. Monaco have qualified over and over again in UEFA competitions where they have won the first leg away, most recently against Sparta Prague in last season’s UEFA Champions League third qualifying round – away , – home.
In his story, Monaco have won only once – away from home in a UEFA double knockout tie. It was already in Germany, against Borussia Dortmund, in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Monaco had also won the return match – at the Stade Louis II.
Leverkusen UEFA Cup winners in and Champions League runners-up to Real Madrid in , Leverkusen finished third in the Bundesliga in , their best league finish since , securing a place in the UEFA Champions group stage League. Last season, the club finished top of their UEFA Europa League group but were knocked out in the Round of 16 by Atalanta – away, – at home.
This season, Werkself failed to break out of their UEFA Champions League group for the third time in four attempts, losing – at home to Club Brugge on Matchday 1 and twice to Porto – away, – at home .
Although they took four points from Atlético – at home – away, the Germans were out of contention after five games and only rose to the bottom of the table on matchday six, when they drew – at home against the Belgian champions, while Atlético lost to Portugal.
Leverkusen are familiar with the UEFA Europa League knockout stage, having played there seven times before. He has lost there four times since entering, including in each of the last two seasons, his best performance being in , when they reached the quarter-finals only to lose the first leg – against Inter Milan in neighboring neutral Düsseldorf.
Leverkusen have not won any of their last six European away games draws. Including the match against Inter on neutral ground in , their away record in the UEFA Europa League knockout stage is wins, draws and losses, with defeats in each of the last three matches.
Leverkusen have been knocked out twice after a first-leg home defeat, the last time being against Atlético de Madrid in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 – home – away. Leverkusen have lost only once – at home first leg in a UEFA double knockout tie.
It was against Villarreal in the UEFA Europa League last 16 for another loss – away afterwards. Changes in the UEFA Europa League Monaco squad Arrivals: none Departures: Benoît Badiashile Chelsea, Félix Lemaréchal Brest, loan Leverkusen Arrivals: Patrick Pentz Reims, Florian Wirtz Departures: Andrei Lunev, Paulinho Atlético Mineiro, loan We know each other… Monaco’s German striker Kevin Volland, who scored a hat-trick against Crvena zvezda on Matchday 3, joined the club after spending four seasons at Leverkusen, where he scored goals in appearances in all competitions.
He had previously spent four years in the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim, having started his career in the second division with München. Another German player in the Monaco team, Goalkeeper Alexander Nübel is in his second season on loan at the club from Bayern Munich.
He spent five seasons at Schalke, making Bundesliga appearances, before joining Bayern in . Monaco’s Senegalese international Ismail Jakobs was born in Germany, represented the country at under-year level and spent two seasons in the Bundesliga with his hometown club Cologne before joining the Principality club in .
Swiss international Breel Embolo spent six years in Germany, three years each at Schalke and three at Borussia Mönchengladbach, scoring a total of Bundesliga goals, before joining Monaco last summer. The French winger from Leverkusen Diaby joined the Ruhr club in after a season at Paris Saint-Germain, with whom he won the League title.
He plays in the France team with the Monegasques Wissam Ben Yedder, Youssouf Fofana, Disasi and Ruben Aguilar. Another Leverkusen Frenchman, Amine Adli arrived from Toulouse after helping the club win promotion to the League.
Dutch left-back Mitchel Bakker is another former Paris player and League champion in Leverkusen’s squad. Monegasque Guillermo Maripán and Leverkusen player Charles Aránguiz are teammates in the Chile national team, as are Monaco striker Myron Boadu and the two Leverkusen players Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Jérémie Frimpong Netherlands.
Volland and Leverkusen players Jonathan Tah, Wirtz, Kerem Demirbay, Nadiem Amiri and Karim Bellarabi also played for Germany. Leverkusen’s new Austrian goalkeeper, Patrick Pentz, spent the first half of this season in the French League with Reims.
It was not used in the loss – at home to Monaco. New Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso scored the two winning goals – for Spain against France in the UEFA EURO quarter-finals, which his country went on to win. Penalties Monaco’s record on penalties UEFA: victory, – against Real Valladolid in the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup .
Leverkusen’s record in three UEFA penalty shootouts: wins and losses: – v Espanyol, UEFA Cup final – v Tirol Innsbruck, UEFA Intertoto Cup quarter-final – v Atlético de Madrid, round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League It was not used in the loss – at home to Monaco.
New Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso scored the two winning goals – for Spain against France in the UEFA EURO quarter-finals, which his country went on to win. Penalties Monaco’s record on penalties UEFA: victory, – against Real Valladolid in the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup .
Leverkusen’s record in three UEFA penalty shootouts: wins and losses: – v Espanyol, UEFA Cup final – v Tirol Innsbruck, UEFA Intertoto Cup quarter-final – v Atlético de Madrid, round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League It was not used in the loss – at home to Monaco.
New Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso scored the two winning goals – for Spain against France in the UEFA EURO quarter-finals, which his country went on to win. Penalties Monaco’s record on penalties UEFA: victory, – against Real Valladolid in the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup .
Leverkusen’s record in three UEFA penalty shootouts: wins and losses: – v Espanyol, UEFA Cup final – v Tirol Innsbruck, UEFA Intertoto Cup quarter-final – v Atlético de Madrid, round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League scored both goals in Spain’s victory over France in the UEFA EURO quarter-finals, which his country went on to win.
Penalties Monaco’s record on penalties UEFA: victory, – against Real Valladolid in the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup . Leverkusen’s record in three UEFA penalty shootouts: wins and losses: – v Espanyol, UEFA Cup final – v Tirol Innsbruck, UEFA Intertoto Cup quarter-final – v Atlético de Madrid, round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League scored both goals in Spain’s victory over France in the UEFA EURO quarter-finals, which his country went on to win.
Penalties Monaco’s record on penalties UEFA: victory, – against Real Valladolid in the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup . Leverkusen’s record in three UEFA penalty shootouts: wins and losses: – v Espanyol, UEFA Cup final – v Tirol Innsbruck, UEFA Intertoto Cup quarter-final – v Atlético de Madrid, round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League
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