The title outsiders welcome the Champions League outsiders to the Stade Louis II on Saturday afternoon, as Monaco and Reims resume their respective Ligue 1 campaigns.
Les Monegasques opened 2024 with a nervy Coupe de France penalty-shootout success over Lens, while their visitors enjoyed a much more routine knockout success, overcoming Dinan Lehon 3-0.
Adi Hutter's men would be forced to do it the hard way, though, as strikes from Faitout Maouassa and Florian Sotoca saw Lens complete a remarkable comeback to force a penalty shootout initially devoid of quality, where only three of the opening eight spot kicks made the net ripple.
However, the dreaded sudden death period saw Adrien Thomasson miss his 12-yard effort before Soungoutou Magassa propelled Monaco into the fourth round - where they will go toe-to-toe with Rodez AF - but thoughts now turn back to closing the gap to their fellow Ligue 1 title-chasers.
Thanks to a praiseworthy run of three wins from a possible four in December, Monaco currently occupy the third and final place on the Ligue 1 podium - two points worse off than Nice and seven adrift of Paris Saint-Germain - but they are also at risk of being caught by surprise package Brest.
0 Comments