The problems deepen for Thierry Henry after his AS Monaco side succumbed to a miserable 4-0 defeat against Club Brugge on Tuesday, their heaviest ever home loss in the UEFA Champions League.
UEFA Champions League, Group A
AS Monaco 0 – 4 Club Brugge KV
THE MATCH
It never rains but it pours for Monaco. That is the way the 2017 champions will feel at the moment after an awful defeat on a damp night at the Stade Louis II that left them on the brink of being eliminated from the Champions League. With just one point from four games in Group A, even rescuing the consolation of a Europa League spot now looks to be beyond them.
And yet Monaco, who drew 1-1 in Belgium two weeks ago when the teams last met, twice came close to taking the lead in the early stages here. Radamel Falcao headed just wide from an Antonio Barreca cross in the sixth minute, before Youri Tielemans released Sofiane Diop, whose powerful shot from close range was blocked by Club’s American goalkeeper Ethan Horvath.
The visitors soon made Monaco pay for failing to convert one of those opportunities, going ahead in the 12th minute. Mats Rits sent a ball into the middle which the sliding Kamil Glik failed to cut out at the near post, leaving Hans Vanaken with a tap-in to open the scoring.
Glik hobbles off
Henry could only watch on as his team collapsed. Wesley was denied by Diego Benaglio at the end of a powerful run, but Club won a penalty when Barreca blocked a Vanaken shot with his arm in the box, and Vanaken himself stepped up to score from the spot, sending his kick straight down the middle (17′).
The large Belgian travelling contingent were enjoying themselves and the Brazilian Wesley got the third goal for the away side when he beat Benaglio with a superb strike from the edge of the box at the end of a counter-attack (24′).
Henry could not turn the tide and he seemed to have admitted defeat as he removed Falcao and sent on teenager Gobe Gouano just after the hour mark. But he then lost Glik to a groin injury. The Pole joins a long queue to the treatment room, and Monaco conceded again in the 85th minute as Dutch international Ruud Vormer ran through to make it 4-0.
THE PLAYER: Kamil Glik
Monaco are missing so many key players just now and the Polish defender is one of the few survivors from the title-winning side of two seasons ago. But he and the home defence were all at sea in the first half and he went off in pain in the 76th minute, meaning there is surely no chance of him featuring in Sunday’s game against Paris Saint-Germain.
THE STAT: 15
Their heaviest ever home defeat in the Champions League leaves Henry still without a win in five games at the helm. It is now 15 matches without a win in all competitions for the principality side since they beat FC Nantes on the opening weekend of the Ligue 1 Conforama season.
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