Monaco hope for miracle at Juve
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Odds stacked against Ligue 1 side to overturn Serie A champions’ 20 advantage in second leg
Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim rates it as only a one in 20 shot.
And most people in football would say that is taking an optimistic view of his young side’s chances as they seek to overturn a 2-0 deficit against Juventus in their Champions League semifinal second leg on Tuesday.
The free-scoring French champions-in-waiting have struck three goals 27 times this season. But nobody has managed that against a Juve defence that has conceded twice only five times in 51 outings in this campaign, has not lost at home in 20 months and has leaked only two goals in 11 Champions League matches.
The stats are even more compelling when the ‘Old Lady’ has been at full strength, as she was when she snuffed out Monaco’s attacking threat last week, or when Leo Messi & Co were neutralised in the quarterfinal .
Against that backdrop, Jardim said his primary task has been to instil a belief in his squad that they are not contesting a dead rubber.
According to striker Valere Germain, the message has been heard. “We have to believe, there is a second leg to be played,” said Germain, who might have left his side with more belief than hope had he not fluffed a late chance to reduce Juve’s advantage to a single goal in the first leg.
“They taught us a lesson in professionalism,” Germain admitted. “When you see someone like (Croatian forward Mario) Mandzukic, with all the medals he has, working like he did on the left of midfield. Or when you see how they scream at each other for the good of the team at free-kicks — it was a lesson for us.”
Gonzalo Higuain was Juventus’s hero in Monaco, striking a poacher’s brace that belied an otherwise sluggish performance and outshining Monaco’s 18-year-old star Kylian Mbappe on the biggest night of his career to date.
Mbappe is one of the hottest properties in football right now and Tuesday represents the perfect stage for him to re-polish those credentials.