Monaco and Atletico Madrid kick off their UEFA Champions League season with a clash at Stade Louis II on Tuesday evening, both teams will want to avoid making the same mistakes as last season when they failed to qualify from the group stage. This they the two teams are in Group A alongside Dortmund and Club Brugge, not an easy group but not the most difficult either. This is the first direct meeting between the two sides, but Atletico might have a confidence advantage since they have lost just one of their thirteen matches against French sides in European competitions.
Monaco seem unable to reach the same level of play that had brought them to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League two seasons ago, last season they crashed out of the group stage and things might be quite complicated for them again this year. They have won just one of their six matches in all competitions so far this season and last week they barely managed to grab a 1-1 draw at Toulouse to end a two-match losing streak. They have several injury problems as well, new signing Aleksandr Golovin is out, along with Rony Lopes, Pietro Pellegri and Ronael Pierre Gabriel.
Atletico Madrid had a better start to the season than Monaco, but not much better. They kicked things off with a prestigious 4-2 extra-time victory over rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup, but then only won one of their four matches in LaLiga, losing 2-0 at Celta Vigo before the international break. Last weekend Diego Simeone's men were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Eibar, and Atletico can be happy that they avoided defeat as their goal was scored by Borja Moreno on 94 minutes. Vitolo and Santiago Arias are injured, while Lucas Hernandez and Nikola Kalinic are doubts.
Probable line-ups:
Monaco: Benaglio - Sidibe, Glik, Jemerson, Henrichs - Bennasser, Aholou - Grandsir, Tielemans, Chadli - Falcao
Atletico: Oblak - Juanfran, Savic, Godin, Luis - Koke, Rodrigo, Niguez, Lemar - Costa, Griezmann
My prediction: Atletico to win 2-1, the Spanish side are more solid and looking to bounce back after their poor domestic results.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Monaco win - 5.75
Draw - 3.60
Atletico win - 1.75
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