AS Monaco bow out with their heads held high against Paris Saint-Germain | OneFootball

Delivering a performance full of courage and once again reduced to 10 men in the second half, the Red and Whites stood up to PSG in the Champions League play-off return leg and exit the competition with their heads held high (2-2).

The upset was within reach. Ahead at half time, the AS Monaco players – later reduced to 10 men around the hour mark and then trailing – kept believing until the very end as they stood up to PSG, the reigning Champions League holders (2–2). A cruel elimination in the playoffs that should not overshadow the courage-filled performance of the Rouge et Blanc. Match report. ✍️

The context 📅

Beaten 2-3 in the first leg at the Stade Louis-II after playing with a numerical disadvantage for 45 minutes, the Rouge et Blanc still had every chance in this Champions League playoff against PSG. But to do so, they needed to deliver a complete performance and overturn a statistic provided by Opta, which stated that, since the away goals rule was abolished, 92% of teams that won the first leg away from home have gone on to qualify.

We’ll have to play our game while taking every factor into account, even if we shouldn’t overthink things. Above all, we’ll try to stick to the game plan we want to implement tomorrow and approach it with a mindset focused on pushing toward an outcome that keeps all hopes alive, and obviously, the earlier in the match, the better.

The lineup 👥

For the second leg, Sébastien Pocognoli lined his team up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, as Maghnes Akliouche returned to the starting XI behind Folarin Balogun and alongside Mamadou Coulibaly. Aladji Bamba, who impressed off the bench in Lens, started in midfield with Lamine Camara. Meanwhile, Denis Zakaria was once again deployed in central defence, alongside Wout Faes and Thilo Kehrer, who was absent last week.

The scenario 🎞

Backed by nearly 1,500 Monaco supporters in the away end, the Rouge et Blanc made a strong start as a Wout Faes effort went just wide (5′). DDominant and present in every duel, they then came close to opening the scoring through Mamadou Coulibaly, but his effort from six yards sailed over the bar (9’). Shortly after, a header from Thilo Kehrer also skimmed past Matvei Safonov’s post (11’).

Effective pressing from Monaco

Having applied intense pressure in PSG’s half, as shown by the five ball recoveries in the attacking third in the opening half-hour, the club from the Rock carved out another chance through Lamine Camara, whose long-range strike was saved by PSG’s Russian goalkeeper (30’). The two sides then went blow for blow: first Folarin Balogun forced Safonov into a fingertip save (38’), before Bradley Barcola saw his effort crash against the crossbar (41’).

A perfect 24th birthday for Maghnes

As the match was heading toward a goalless half time, Mamadou Coulibaly played a clever pass into the box for Maghnes Akliouche to finish with the help of the post on his 24th birthday (0–1). A #MadeInLaDiagonale goal that level the score in the playoff!

Right after the restart, PSG threatened through João Neves, whose dinked header was pushed away for a corner by Philipp Köhn (50′). Unfortunately, the Monégasques were once again reduced to 10 men after Mamadou received a second yellow (59′).

A terrible seven minutes

The situation turned disastrous, especially as Monaco conceded an equaliser in the very next play via Marquinhos (1-1, 61′), then fell behind when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia doubled PSG’s aggregate lead from close range (2-1, 66′). Sébastien Pocognoli then maked a triple substitution, which saw Christian Mawissa return to action (74′). PSG subsequently dominated possession, and it took a superb save from Philipp to stop a powerful Désiré Doué shot (78′).

An almost miraculous feat

The Red and Whites absorbed the pressure and then broke on the counter through Simon Adingra, who found Jordan Teze to score the equaliser (2-2, 91′). An equaliser was possible in stoppage time, and from a final free kick from Lamine Camara, Wout Faes’ header narrowly missed the target (94′).

Frustratingly, the referee blew the final whistle shortly afterwards to confirm the draw on the night (2-2), meaning a cruel elimination for AS Monaco in this Champions League play-off. Now, attention turns to the 24th matchday of Ligue 1 and the home game against Angers on Saturday (19:00) at Stade Louis-II.

The highlights 🎥

5′: Faes’ attempt went wide of Safonov’s goal 9′: Coulibaly’s shot from six yards goes over the bar 11′: Kehrer’s angled header goes left of the post 30′: Camara’s long-range strike saved by Safonov 31′: Doué’s powerful shot from the edge of the box sails well over 38′: Balogun forces Safonov into a fingertip save from a lob 41′: Barcola hits the crossbar 45′: Akliouche opens the scoring with a left-footed shot off the post (0-1) 50′: Köhn turns away Neves’ dinked header for a corner 61′: Marquinhos scores the equaliser from close range (1-1) 66′: Kvaratskhelia scores from close range after Köhn’s save (2-1) 78′: Köhn makes a near-post save from Doué 91′: Teze converts Adingra’s cross to equalize (2-2) 94′: Faes narrowly misses a header from Camara’s cross

The stat 📊

Maghnes Akliouche has been involved in four goals in 10 Champions League matches this season (1 goal, 3 assists), matching his output in the same number of appearances last season (2 goals, 2 assists). At 24, the Monaco player becomes the first player for a French club to score on his birthday in the Champions League since Ángel Di María (who scored twice at 29) and Edinson Cavani (30) for PSG on February 14, 2017, against Barcelona.

🗓️ The match sheet:

Wednesday 25 February 2026 (21:00) – Parc des Princes

Champions League – Second leg play-off: PSG 2-2 AS Monaco

Half time: 0-1

Goals: Marquinhos (61′), Kvaratskhelia (66′) for PSG; Akliouche (45′), Teze (91′) for AS Monaco

Yellow cards: Zakaria (24′), Vanderson (48′), Coulibaly (55′), (59′) for AS Monaco

Red cards: Coulibaly (59′) for AS Monaco

PSG: Safonov – Hakimi, Marquinhos ©, Pacho, Nuno Mendes (Hernandez, 80′) – Zaïre-Emery (Dro Fernández, 88′), Vitinha, João Neves – Barcola (Lee, 69′), Doué (Ramos, 88′), Kvaratskhelia

Substitutes: Chevalier, Marin, Beraldo, Hernandez, Zabarnyi, Lee Kang-In, Dro Fernández, Mbaye, Ramos

Coach: Luis Enrique