Minus Radamel Falcao & James Rodriguez, Monaco Must Upset Champions League Odds

It was just over ten years ago that Monaco made their biggest dent in the Champions League. Having played the tournament’s most exciting football, Didier Deschamps’ team arrived in the Gelsenkirchen final against Porto with genuine hope of becoming only the second side from Ligue 1 to lift the famous trophy.

The dream lasted around 23 minutes. It was that far into the match that Ludovic Giuly pulled up with an abdominal injury and was replaced by Dado Prso. Monaco’s hope went with the captain. Carlos Alberto opened the scoring for the Portuguese champions 15 minutes later, with Porto closing out the match in what would become recognised worldwide as Jose Mourinho’s trademark.

This time around, as the Principality club prepares to return to Europe’s premier club competition after an eight-year absence, progression from the group stage would be termed as an exploit. This is particularly so given the difficulty of their pool—which contains Benfica, Zenit St Petersburg and Tuesday’s opponents Bayer Leverkusen—and the current low state of morale.

The deadline-day exit of Radamel Falcao to Manchester United was the straw that broke the camel’s back for many amongst their small hardcore of fans. As The Guardian reports here, a group of fans announced their intention to ask for season-ticket refunds in the wake of the sales of James Rodriguez (to Real Madrid) and Falcao, complaining that they had been “betrayed” via a post on fan website Planete ASM.

It will not have escaped the notice of those supporters that next Monday will mark a year since Monaco played Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes in last season’s first "El Cashico," as it was dubbed in France. On that Sunday night, Claudio Ranieri’s side showed their will and ability to go toe-to-toe with the capital club. Falcao, inevitably, scored their first-half equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

At that point, the dream was fully alive, even if Ranieri played down his team’s ability to challenge PSG. Even if they finished nine points behind the eventual champions, the Italian deserved praise for guiding Monaco into an automatic Champions League spot directly after promotion to the top flight—while integrating a string of star signings.

His reward was the sack. Predating the sale of James, the decision to bring in the talented yet comparatively inexperienced Leonardo Jardim is hard to fathom and is arguably one of the roots of the current malaise. As Bleacher Report’s own Jonathan Johnson pointed out on beIN Sports, the cost of paying off Ranieri and compensating Sporting Clube de Portugal for Jardim amounted to €8m.

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

With Jardim working less on fitness than his predecessor, his demands on his team to press high have seen them frequently caught on the counter, and they are porous. Having conceded nine times in four matches, they sit second-to-last in Ligue 1.

The current gloom was only thickened by Friday’s 2-1 defeat at Lyon. While Falcao and James may be history, Jardim can hardly complain the cupboard is bare. The starting line-up at the Stade Gerland included experienced internationals (Jeremy Toulalan, Ricardo Carvalho, Dimitar Berbatov) and other expensive signings (Joao Moutinho, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Lucas Ocampos).

Lyon, meanwhile, have fallen on harder times, underlined by the fact that 13 of their 18 were academy graduates. Yet they bossed possession and, even if they rode their luck at times, showed stomach for the fight.

That last quality is not something that Jardim’s side has shown too regularly so far in this campaign. It needs to remedy that quickly, starting with Leverkusen’s visit to the Stade Louis II.

Clearly all the blame should not be laid at Jardim’s door. The financial implications of Financial Fair Play and owner Dmitry Rybolovlev’s recent divorce (as this writer discussed on ESPN) have changed the way the wind is blowing in the Principality, leading to those superstar sales.

Yet Rybololvev, and the fans, have the right to expect more from what remains post-Falcao and James. Like Jardim's crop, Deschamps' side had talent, even if there was little influx of new blood in that season. Drastic change is needed if the buccaneering displays of 2004 are not to become even more of a faint dot in the distance.