Strasbourg – AS Monaco

Monaco are trying to qualify for the Champions League group. Will he be able to take his mind off the game against Strasbourg?

Strasbourg face Monaco in the first leg of the French championship. The match promises to be an interesting one - last season, both teams were competing for places in the European competitions. As a result, the Monegasques managed to qualify for the Champions League, while Strasbourg, despite very good football and high quality of play, were on the edge of the Eurocup zone, but did not get in. In any case, Strasbourg made a very good impression and should retain their style and manner of play in the upcoming season, as the same backbone has remained in the squad. There were some minor transfer losses, but the club managed to make up for them. And the core remains the same. Strasbourg had a bright pre-season preparation, showing that it has gained good form. It beat Sion, Charleroi, drew with Brentford (2-2), lost to Cagliari (1-2) and then beat Liverpool (3-0). Strasbourg are still productive and have a high level of organisation of the game. Monaco, on the other hand, have not been very good during pre-season. It got off to a good start, but then there was a draw against Inter (2-2), defeats to Porto (1-2) and Southampton (1-3). But the main feature of Monegasque's preparation is that they were forced to start the season early. In the third qualifying round of the Champions League, Monaco played their first leg at home to PSV (1-1). And it was not easy for the Monegasques to get back into the game, and they showed that they have some problems in creation. Monaco have an important away game ahead of them, and therefore they could unknowingly sacrifice the start of the season in the French league, as it is vital for them to qualify for the Champions League group, and the lack of points in League 1 at the start can be made up for later. In addition, Monaco will not be able to avoid a shortage of points in Strasbourg. The local team is very strong at home. In the past two seasons, Strasbourg have beaten Monaco 1-0 at home. In general, it is very difficult for any opponent to win points on Strasbourg's pitch.