Confirm their return to form in the league, that’s this weekend’s objective. Less than a week after a win over Rennes at the Stade Louis-II (3-2), the Rouge et Blanc return home for a visit from AJA this Saturday (7 p.m.). It’s a match which should allow the men of Adi Hütter to start a winning run in Ligue 1. In any case, this is what he evoked in front of the media, on the eve of the match.🎙️

The Champions League draw

I didn’t have any particular desire. But to be honest, playing Paris Saint-Germain five times in two months would have been a lot. That’s why we prefer to face Benfica, because it would have been a shame to come up against a team from our league. On a sporting level? Benfica are a high-quality team, and we saw that a month and a half ago at home. It’s also a club that has a great history in the Champions League, and has even won it twice (1961, 1962, editor’s note).

𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬-𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗦 🆚 @SLBenfica

Match aller le 11 ou 12 février 🇲🇨
Match retour le 18 ou 19 février 🇵🇹#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/tFdZEBDvcZ

— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) January 31, 2025

Against them we played a great match during the League phase, before Wilfried Singo was sent off. We inevitably struggled afterwards with two superb assists from Angel Di Maria. Now we have this two-legged tie against them, especially in the magnificent stadium that is the Stadio da Luz. We will be ready for these two matches!

A sense of revenge?

For me there is no revenge to be taken, it is a two-legged play-off, and I see it as an opportunity for us to qualify for the next round of the Champions League. The refereeing? I think there will be a different referee, but I don’t like to talk about that too much. It is obvious that the situation was strange during this match, in some actions and even in the communication with the players.

We were getting cards very quickly, but I think he wasn’t having a great day. I’m sure it will be different this time, even if the referee wasn’t at fault for our defeat, because we should have defended better. But now it will be a different story.

On the defeat against Inter Milan

I think we can’t compare the Inter match and the Auxerre match that awaits us. We played in special circumstances in Milan, after that red card at the very beginning of the game. Some players weren’t mentally ready, especially in that first quarter of an hour with the second goal. We are guilty of making those two mistakes in the first 15 minutes. And then, after the sending off, it was difficult to fight on equal terms with ten against eleven at this level in the Champions League.

A defeat is a defeat, and now the match against Auxerre will be completely different. Once again, I am not 100% satisfied with not having been able to face this team with eleven. But I also want to congratulate my players for not giving up and for defending with courage, even if Inter were logically the better team. It is a good lesson for us and for the players, to see at what level these types of teams play. The match against Auxerre will be very different at home, and we want to go for a second victory in a row in the league.

On qualification

We must now put this Inter match out of our heads, even if I am happy and proud of qualification for the play-offs with 13 points, especially when we think back to the context of the match against Aston Villa, where we were under pressure. And then we must not forget that four teams that we faced finished in the Top 8, so we can be very proud to look back on this.

It was one of our goals for the season. When we see that even Dinamo Zagreb was eliminated with 11 points, we can be even more proud. We can be criticized on certain points, but we can be happy with this performance.

The integration of Mika Biereth

In his first match in Montpellier, he showed very interesting movement and positioning. We asked our number 10s, who can deliver very good balls to our attackers, to play closer to him. Which meant that he had a fantastic first half against Rennes.

His match was very good, he helped us a lot in the game, but also with his goal for his first at home in Ligue 1. His is a different profile to that of Breel Embolo, and I’m happy to have him among us. Pairing Breel and Mika? I think they can actually play together, because they are complementary, where Breel and George have a bit of the same profile.

Premier but en Rouge & Blanc pour Mika 🆕⚽️ pic.twitter.com/25U82mpjnf

— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) January 27, 2025

Continue against Auxerre?

We currently want to continue our march forward in the league against AJA, against whom we must go for the victory. Because when you look at the table, there are clubs just behind us, the battle is very tight and everyone is dangerous.

We respect Auxerre a lot, who had made a big move by winning in Marseille (1-3), before drawing against Lille recently (0-0), and who have good players like Gaëtan Perrin, Hamed Junior Traoré and Lassine Sinayoko who can be dangerous. But at home, in front of our fans, we want to win!