Thierry Henry is likely to be without top scorer and club captain Radamel Falcao as he makes his UEFA Champions League bow as AS Monaco coach, back in Belgium against Club Brugge KV.
UEFA Champions League Group A, Matchday 3
Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges
Club Brugge KV – AS Monaco 
Former Monaco striker Henry, who won the French top-flight title with the principality club as a player in 1997, took the reins at Les Rouges et Blancs a little under two weeks ago following a two-year spell as Belgium assistant manager under Roberto Martinez.
Despite excitement surrounding the appointment of a former world class player turned promising coach, Henry endured something of a baptism of fire in his first Ligue 1 Conforama game in the dugout on Saturday, with his side losing 2-1 to RC Strasbourg Alsace.
Watch: Highlights of Monaco’s 2-1 loss to Strasbourg
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Falcao – scorer of four league goals this term – limped off with a thigh injury after only 37 minutes at the Stade Louis II. Rony Lopes remains sidelined with a hamstring injury, so Henry will have to shuffle his pack in the final third, with Samuel Grandsir likely to be thrown in again despite being sent off three minutes after coming on against Strasbourg.
“The game in Strasbourg very quickly turned against is with Falcao’s injury and Grandsir’s red card,” Henry explained on Monaco’s official website. “We’re here to work and victories will give us more confidence.”
“I was aware that it would be hard to put something in place in two days,” he further explained at his post-match press conference, before sounding a positive note. “From what I saw, in our build-up play until the final third, it was more or less what I wanted.”
With Danijel Subasic and Diego Benaglio injured, meanwhile, Seydou Sy played in goal, but was at fault for Strasbourg’s opener. Even if Henry has forgiven Sy, the Senegalese is not in Monaco’s Champions League squad, so 20-year-old reserve goalkeeper Loïc Badiashile is expected to start at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
Badiashile (r.) has only played 45 senior minutes in three seasons with Monaco
Brazil centre-back Jemerson is at least available, having been suspended at the weekend.
Brugge midfielder Hans Vanaken was a regular Belgium squad member during his two years on the Belgium bench, and despite boasting something approaching insider knowledge on Wednesday’s opponents, Henry is taking nothing for granted.
“Club Brugge is a team that fights from beginning to end,” he said. “They defend together, they attack together. We will try to block them. After Strasbourg it’s good to play again quickly. The Champions League is a dream, we must take this competition as a chance to regain confidence.”
Possible line ups
Monaco: Badiashile; Sidibé, Glik, Jemerson, Henrichs; Aholou, Tielemans, Chadli; Golovin, Grandsir; Sylla
Brugge: Letica: Poulain, Denswil, Mitrovic; Vormer; Tomecak, Vanaken, Rits, Danjuma; Vossen, Wesley
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