The sudden sacking of Niko Kovac has seemingly already come back to bite Monaco, with Philippe Clement enduring a woeful run of results domestically and continentally in the past few weeks as Les Monegasques bowed out of the Europa League in the last 16.
After a 2-0 first-leg defeat on Braga’s turf, Monaco went 3-0 down on aggregate after Alexander Nubel allowed Abel Ruiz’s long-range effort to seep through his gloves into the back of the net, and Axel Disasi’s late header could not inspire a magnificent turnaround.
Last week’s 1-0 defeat to European hopefuls Strasbourg in Ligue 1 sees Monaco sitting in eighth place in the table – nine points adrift of the Champions League places and six adrift of the top five – but sporting director Paul Mitchell has publicly backed the under-fire Clement amid his side’s miserable streak.
Les Monegasques have now posted just one win from their last eight matches in all competitions – which was a hard-fought 1-0 success at Marseille to give credit where credit is due – but four defeats from their last six does not set them up well for a meeting with the runaway leaders.
Monaco can be encouraged by the fact that they have only lost one of their last 11 league games at the Stade Louis II – although it was the most recent one to an injury-hit Reims – and for all the attacking talent at Clement’s disposal, he just cannot get his forward line to gel.
Following yet another Champions League capitulation at the hands of Real Madrid, the Ligue 1 title is the only saving grace for Mauricio Pochettino now, and his side at least managed to return to winning ways with a 3-0 success over a hapless Bordeaux in the capital.
Kylian Mbappe, Leandro Paredes and Neymar were all on target at the Parc des Princes, but the latter and Lionel Messi were the targets of boos from the home
crowd during the contest, with the PSG fanbase less than impressed with the efforts of their South American stars throughout the season.
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Pochettino’s demands for “respect” for Neymar and Messi may fall on deaf ears, but Nice’s failure to overcome Montpellier HSC has allowed Les Parisiens to open up a 15-point gap at the top of the standings as they endeavour to end a miserable streak of form on the road.
Indeed, PSG have suffered three consecutive defeats on rival turf in all competitions following their Bernabeu collapse and have only prevailed in one of their last six away from home in Ligue 1, but Monaco’s frailties are there to be exposed.
Pochettino oversaw a 2-0 win over Monaco at the Parc des Princes back in December – seven months after PSG had won by the same scoreline in the final of the 2020-21 Coupe de France – although their most recent trip to the Stade Louis II ended in a 3-2 loss
