Monaco march into semis
French outfit complete misery for Dortmund side still reeling from bus bomb attack
Kylian Mbappe and Radamel Falcao struck early as Monaco reached the Champions League football semifinals with a 3-1 home win over Borussia Dortmund in an enthralling game that sealed a 6-3 aggregate victory.
French prodigy Mbappe and Colombia striker Falcao scored in the third and 17th minutes before Marco Reus gave the visitors hope with a 48th-minute goal, only for Valere Germain to wrap up the win for the French side nine minutes from time.
Monaco joined Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Juventus in the last four of Europe’s premier club competition, becoming the first French team to achieve the feat since Olympique Lyonnais in 2010.
“We are happy to be in the semifinals, it’s important for French football,” Falcao said.
Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel was philosophical after a difficult tie from the moment his team’s bus was attacked before the first leg last week.
“Over both games, we have the feeling that everything that could go wrong, went wrong,” he said.
The kickoff was delayed by five minutes after the German team arrived late at the Louis-II stadium because of traffic problems.
The incident, coming a week after the first leg was postponed by 24 hours after the team bus had been attacked with explosives on its way to the stadium, was disconcerting for the Germans.
“The departure of the bus was scheduled for 1915 so everybody was in the bus at that time and police were there to escort us to the stadium,” Tuchel said. “But after 16 or 17 minutes, nothing had happened and we asked why we were not moving. We were told that it was for security reasons. Eight days after what happened, it was the worst thing that could happen to us.”
Tuchel said he was focused on the game when it kicked off but could not speak for his players.
“The starting conditions were difficult. We did not have the quality, the energy and the luck to equalise,” Tuchel said.
Monaco made a fast start, scoring twice in the first 17 minutes to effectively settle the tie.
“This early goal affected our confidence,” Tuchel said. “We lacked the courage to defend and press. We were not good enough but I don’t want to criticise the players.”
Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim said his team would stay true to their attacking style in the semifinals.
“Our rivals will want to draw us [tomorrow NZT] but our ambition is to enjoy it and play with our attacking qualities like we always do.” he said.
“We played a very solid game. We were in control but we showed ambition.”
Juventus put on a masterclass of defensive football to frustrate Lionel Messi and earn a 0-0 draw against a Barcelona side hoping for another miraculous comeback.
The second-leg stalemate sealed a 3-0 win on aggregate and came six weeks after Barcelona’s historic 6-1 thrashing of Paris Saint-Germain, when the home side became the first team to ever overturn a 4-0 loss in the competition.
The Italians showed poise and experience to ensure there would be no more miracles at Camp Nou.
“We knew Barcelona were ready to risk everything but we closed down all the spaces,” said centre back Leonardo Bonucci.