The Uefa Champions League has had goals raining from all angles in 2017 and it continued on Tuesday night as manchester city thrashed Leonardo Jardim’s AS Monaco 5-3 at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. The game looked balance and could have been won by the away side if Radamel Falcao had converted a penalty kick right from the break.
Pep Guardiola has suffered criticisms and the recent one came out as a result of playing out a goalless draw on the road to Huddersfield Town A.F.C – a match the team was expected to win with minimum fuss.
With Gabriel Jesus out of the squad with an injury, Sergio Aguero was the man to lead the attack after unconvincing performances and the arrival of Gabriel Jesus kept him out of the starting eleven.
Aguero repaid Guardiola’s faith by scoring two goals and assisting Sane with City’s fifth goal, the climax of the game that gave the team a two-goal advantage heading into the return leg at the Stade Louis in the middle of March.
Champions League sees French teams score plenty goals
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on the winning side put four past FC Barcelona at the Parc des Princes while AS Monaco being the losing side bagged in an impressive three away goals. With eight goals scored at the Etihad Stadium, the scores at a glance seemed like an aggregate score line but can there more in the return fixture.
AS Monaco has scored an impressive 76 goals in 26 Ligue One games with 46 goals coming at home.
The team has also rejuvenated Radamel Falcao and the performances of Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho, and Bakayako, if replicated and improved upon at home, might see Leonardo Jardim and his men extend their great goal scoring run at home.
AS Monaco seeks to eliminate an English Side again in the Champions League
In the 2014/15 season managed by current coach Leonardo Jardim, the team achieved an awesome away result at the Emirates against Arsenal.
Three weeks later, they were in the last eight of the competition.
Manchester City is second on the English League log, eight points off leaders Chelsea while AS Monaco sits top of Ligue One with a three-point lead against second and third-placed Paris Saint-Germain and OGC Nice.
The pressure is mounting for both teams to bring in silverware at the end of the season.
Coincidentally, the two teams competed in four competitions at the start of the season with Manchester City bowing out to Manchester United in the English League Cup, while AS Monaco has made it all the way to the Coupe de la Ligue final with other competitions still on the table.
Pep Guardiola has been to seven Champions League semi-finals in his first seven seasons as manager. Leonardo Jardim wants to improve AS Monaco’s performance in Europe and take the team to where it was in 2004. This would undoubtedly ensure that the second leg betters the first leg and bring in a fistful of goals.
AS Monaco visits EA Guingamp and Manchester City plays host to Huddersfield Town A.F.C in the second leg of their meeting in the English FA Cup.
