Sparta, focus! What do the Flyers have to watch out for against Monaco and what could be their advantage?

The 3rd round of the Champions League will feature both “S” teams from Prague. In this article we will focus on Sparta’s opponents. If Pavel Vrba and his charges want to qualify, they have a home game to play. AS Monaco is a completely different opponent than the current opponents of the team.

This is another important match for Sparta and Czech football, which can help our football into the coveted TOP 15 of the UEFA national coefficients. The fifteenth best country in the ranking sends 5 representatives to the European Cups.

The following double match will offer another interesting comparison of Czech and French football. For the third time in a few months, a Czech and a French team will play in the cups. Slavia beat Nice twice, Sparta lost twice to Lille, so the balance is even so far.

Everything you need to know about Monaco

Monaco beat giants PSG twice in the last league season. They won 3-2 in the autumn and 2-0 in the spring. Last season, according to many experts, Monaco under Croatian manager Kovac were one of the most entertaining teams in the league and clearly outplayed most of their opponents.

The club from the Principality had the third best overall league offense in goals and xG (76 / 66.9) and the fourth best defense in goals scored / second best in xGA (42 / 33.1).

explanation:: xG = expected goals scored, xGA = expected goals allowed

Monaco most often play in a 4-4-2 or 3-4-3 formation. Often these formations change depending on whether Kovac’s charges are in control of the ball or without the ball.

Monaco pride themselves on keeping possession wide thanks to their outside backs/wingers. As soon as one side was crowded, there was an immediate turn of play to the other side of the pitch where, with a bit of luck, there was a free player in a one-on-one situation.

Aggressive high pressing immediately after losing the ball was also important. And it was the high pressing that could have been a big problem for Letná.

As far as the quality of the players is concerned, the centre pairing is definitely worth mentioning. Aurélien Tchouaméni (21) and Youssouf Fofana (22), typologically they are players like Kanté and Pogba. Tchouaméni is likely to face a big transfer in the near future.

Sparta’s main weapon is the offensive duo of Ben Yedder and Volland. They complement each other perfectly and last season they contributed to 36 league goals together.

Now for the more positive news. What could be at stake for Sparta? Monaco have one of the youngest squads in Ligue 1 and a significant part of the team has no experience of big cup games. Another big advantage could be the inexperience of Niko Kovac’s charges, the match with Sparta is their first competitive match.

The nomination for the match with Sparta is missing stopper Maripán, who was one of the main building blocks of the line-up last season. Furthermore, Kovač will miss the long-term injured goalkeeper Lecomte and Dietta.

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