Monaco ‘playing for survival’

Monaco midfielder Fabinho believes it could be win or bust tonight when the French Ligue 1 side take on Besiktas in Group G, having suffered a discouraging 3-0 home defeat by Porto in the last round of matches

“We’re almost playing for our survival,” said the Brazilian. “If we don’t win tomorrow then we know it will be almost impossible.

“The way we lost to Porto was tough to take, as it’s not normal to lose 3-0 at home. We’ve learned from that and we know we have to play differently tomorrow. We need to use the Porto match as a learning experience and not repeat those mistakes.

“I think the international break has helped us. Players had a change of scene and came back with a desire to play and a desire to win.

“The squad are in a good frame of mind and we played quite well against Lyon (despite losing 3-2).”

Leipzig host Porto in the other Group G match tonight.