There was to be no consolation victory for AS Monaco, who bowed out of the UEFA Champions League for another season with a 2-0 home defeat against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.
UEFA Champions League Group A, Matchday 6
AS Monaco 0 – 2 Borussia Dortmund 
THE MATCH
Monaco had already been condemned to finish last in Group A before welcoming the Bundesliga leaders to the Stade Louis II. Coach Thierry Henry had said he wanted to use this game to help prepare for Sunday’s important trip to Lyon, and his starting line-up here included seven players aged 22 or under, with four of them teenagers.
It was always going to be a big ask for Monaco to take anything against Lucien Favre’s side, and Dortmund went in front with just quarter of an hour played, Maximilian Philipp squaring for Raphaël Guerreiro to score at the end of a lovely move.
Abdou Diallo came close to scoring against his old club and Diego Benaglio saved well from Marcel Schmelzer as the first half went on, meaning Monaco were fortunate not to be further behind at half-time.
Dortmund top group
The away side continued to press after the break, and Benaglio did well to save when a speculative Schmelzer volley from 25 yards had been helped on by Ömer Toprak (63′). Henry then sent on Khéphren Thuram for his fellow 17-year-old Han-Noah Massengo midway through the second half, and it looked as though the hosts might avoid conceding more goals.
However, Dortmund finally doubled their advantage with two minutes left when Christian Pulisic’s cross was helped on by Paco Alcácer for Guerreiro – the former SM Caen and FC Lorient man – to curl in his and his team’s second of the night.
It was a well deserved win for Dortmund, and there was good news for them from Belgium too – Atletico Madrid were held to a 0-0 draw by Club Brugge, meaning Favre’s side were able to leapfrog the Spaniards and qualify for the last 16 as group winners.
THE PLAYER: Raphaël Guerreiro
Monaco have greatly missed Rony Lopes during this Champions League campaign, and that was hammered home as his fellow Portuguese star Guerreiro – a French-born former Ligue 1 star – made the difference for the visitors against a youthful home side.
THE STAT: 7
Monaco have now suffered seven consecutive home defeats in the Champions League, a run that started in the 2016-17 semi-final against Juventus. They are the first team to fail to win a single group-stage game in two straight seasons since Dinamo Zagreb in 2011-12 and 2012-13.
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