Key events
64 min: Monaco double-substitution moments after Minamino messes up a decent chance to double his side’s lead. Soungoutou Magassa and Aleksandr Golovin on for Camara and Ben Seghir. Villa substitution: Ian Maatsen comes on for Lucas Digne.
62 min: Villa corner. Digne’s inswinger is cleared at the near post, the visitors recycle the ball and Rogers is unable to convert a follow-up half-chance I don’t think he was expecting to come his way.
61 min: Minamino runs at the Villa defence down the inside left but has his shot blocked by Ezri Konsa when he might have been better advised to square the ball. Good defending.
59 min: Buendia picks out Digne with a lovely backheel from the byline and his cross his harmlessly headed into the gloves of Radoslaw Majecki by Matty Cash. The Villa right-back slightly mistimed his leap at the far post and got little power on his header.
58 min: Lucas Digne has a cross from the left blocked but wins a throw-in. He and Rogers combine to get the ball into the box but Monaco clear with a minimum of fuss.
56 min: Aston Villa substitution: an interesting one here, as Jhon Duran comes on for Leon Bailey. Let’s see how he slots in with Ollie Watkins. We don’t often see the pair of them on the pitch together for Villa.
50 min: Monaco have an excellent effort ruled out for offside. Akliouce is played in behind the Villa defence and finishes in a very tidy fashion. Offside but only by a whisker. It’s a let-off for Villa.
49 min: Regal celebrity fan watch: Prince William, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland? Tick. Albert II of Monaco? Tick.
Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons? Unaccounted for.
47 min: Oof! Buendia and Watkins link up superbly down the centre and the latter plays the ball to Rogers in acres of space. The Villa man has to dig the ball out from under his feet as it’s slightly behind him and does well to get as shot away. It’s narrowly wide of the far upright.
Second half: Monaco 1-0 Aston Villa
46 min: Monaco start the second half on the ball and with no changes in personnel on either side. Villa are a goal behind but this rune reader can still see them getting something out of this game.
Half-time: Monaco 1-0 Aston Villa
Referee Slavko Vincic blows for the break and the home side go in a goal to the good courtesy of Wilfried Singo’s header at corner after eight minutes.
Villa haven’t been anywhere near their best (or worst), just a bit so-so, almost as if they’re going through the motions. They could and probably should be at least two goals behind but will need to up their game if they are to turn this game around and take all three points.
45+3 min: After dogged work by Minamino, Magnes Akliouche receives the ball to feet and has a clear sight of goal. He fires over when hitting the target looked far easier. It’s half-time and one suspects it couldn’t have come quick enough for Villa.
45+2 min: We’re into added time in a first half where Villa haven’t quite been at the races but will go in for the break just a goal down.
Or will they?
Watkins latches on to a through ball from Tielemans, finds himself in a one-on-one with Monaco goalkeeper Majecki and is denied by a superb stop by the Polish goalkeeper, who got down to get a strong hand behind the ball.
45 min: Watkins is played in behind and is clearly offside but the flag doesn’t go up until he goes to ground under a non-challenge from Thilo Kehrer.
44 min: Mings is on hand to shepherd the ball back to the warm embrace of Emi Martinez as Minamino hassles and harries him in the Villa penalty area.
42 min: Martinez plays the ball long trying to pick out an opportunistic Watkins run in behind the Monaco defence. Their goalkeeper Majecki is quick to the edge of his area to claim the ball before the Villa striker can get to it.
40 min: In a double-dose of heartwarming news for Villa, Konsa gets back to his feet and his challenge on Embolo goes unpunished. Play resumes.
39 min: Breel Embolo tries to drill the ball across the face of the Villa goal under pressure from Ezri Konsa. Tyrone Mings intercepts and clears but there’s a VAR check for a possible foul on Embolo by Konsa, who is receiving treatment after his potentially late challenge. Decision pending …
37 min: An Ollie Watkins touch on a Tielemans pass into the Monaco penalty area and the ball sits up nicely for Leon Bailey. His goalbound shot is well saved by Radoslaw Majecki.
35 min: “I think it’s Singo with an S, but Zingo with a Z reminds me of a fun board game of visual matching and speed that I used to play with my kids when they were young,” writes Peter Oh. “Zingo!!! Thanks for the memory!”
And thanks to you Peter, as well as a couple of other readers, who have got in touch to point out my error. And apologies, Wilfried.
32 min: Lucas Digne’s effort is over the wall and on target but doesn’t cause Monaco goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki too many problems. The Pole saves comfortably, if a little theatrically.
30 min: Villa free-kick in a good position, about four yards outside the Monaco penalty area straight in front of goal …
28 min: Villa are visibly growing into this game after a start that wasn’t so much dreadful as just quite “meh”. It’s something because at one point the match looked like it might pass them by and there’s every chance their players are still feeling the after-effects of their gruelling match against Arsenal on Saturday evening. Monaco, by contrast, played on Friday night.
25 min: Tielemans tries another ball over the top, this time trying to pick out a Buendia run down the inside left. The pass is slightly overhit but Buendia manages to keep the ball in play. A vaguely promising Villa move ends with a low Rogers cross from the left being put out for a corner. Nothing comes of the set-piece.
23 min: Youri Tielemans tries to play a ball from deep over the top for Watkins to flick or head goalwards but it’s headed clear by Monaco’s goalscorer, Wilfried Zingo.
22 min: Buendia marks this auspicious occasion in his career with a robust and illegal challenge on Lamine Camara and is penalised for his troubles. Free-kick for Monaco in the middle of the pitch.
20 min: Ben Seghir sends another cross into the Villa penalty penalty area from the left but it’s comfortably dealt with by Emi Buendia, who is making his Champions League debut tonight. Unless he isn’t but I’m pretty sure I read that somewhere earlier today.
17 min: Martinez is called into action again, making a super save from Maghnes Akliouche, who fired a Eliesse Ben Seghir cross goalwards. The Argentinian dives to his left to claw the ball around the post. Villa need to wake up!
14 min: While Monaco started this match in 17th place in the qualification table, a win here would draw them level on points with Villa, who are in seventh place.
10 min: Matty Cash is fouled by Breel Embolo in what looked a fairly innoccuous challenge to me. He simply outmuscled the Villa defender as they contested a ball out on the left wing but as is always the case, other opinions are available. The big Swiss striker’s protests of innocence fall on deaf ears.
GOAL! Monaco 1-0 Aston Villa (Singo 8)
Monaco lead! From a well-worked corner, Martinez saves well from a powerful Thilo Kehrer header but can only parry the ball up in the air. With Villa’s goalkeeper on his back on the ground, Wilfried Singo is well placed to nod the ball home into an empty net from about four yards out. If that.
7 min: An excellent Lucas Digne cross from the left is a little too high for Monaco defender Christian Mawissa to connect with and the ball drops nicely for Leon Bailey. We’ll charitably say his view was obscured by the burly Monaco defender and that’s why he’s unable to get any power behind his dreadful header. A good chance for Villa goes to waste.
5 min: Minamino plays the ball wide to Eliesse Ben Seghir, who is unable to pick out Breel Embolo with his cross from the left wing. Matty Cash tidies up at the back for the Villa.
3 min: Leon Bailey miscontrols the ball with a heavy touch and sends it out for a goal-kick after good work from Emi Buendia and Morgan Rogers to drive Villa forward into Monaco territory.
1 min: Villa play the ball back to Emi Martinez, who is loudly booed by locals who clearly haven’t forgotten his heroics/antics, which helped deny them victory in the last World Cup. He’ll love that …
Monaco v Aston Villa is go …
1 min: Villa get the ball rolling, their players wearing navy shirts, shorts and socks. The players of Monaco wear white shirts with red on the front, white shorts and red socks. Game on …
Not long now: Skippers Denis Zakaria and Emiliano Martinez lead out their respective sides as the Champions League anthem is played over the Tannoy. It’s January, we’re still in the group stage and kick-off is just a minute away.
Shenanigans afoot at the Stade Louis II? As (bad) luck would have it, the sprinklers were turned on during the pre-match warm-up in Monaco, but only in the half of the pitch where Aston Villa’s players were doing their rondos, shuttle runs and pre-match shooting practice. No doubt there’s a very innocent explanation …
A new Villa recruit: The club have announced the signing of Andres Garcia from Spanish second division side Levante. In a bid to keep those who are obliged to dig into the nitty-gritty of transfer tittle-tattle for a living, the 21-year-old right-back has moved to Villa Park for an undisclosed number of years and an undisclosed fee. Tell them nothing, Villa!
Youri Tielemans: The former Leicester midfielder has proved sceptics wrong with displays central to the transformation of Unai Emery’s side. Ben Fisher reports …
Adi Hutter speaks: “We have an opportunity against a big, big opponent and tomorrow we will face a team in the Premier League who is stable in their results,” said Monaco’s head coach in his pre-match press conference. “Arsenal were the better team [on Saturday], but Villa came back and played out a draw. Unai Emery has won four titles in Europe and he has very good players.
“Martinez is an unbelievable goalkeeper. Rogers is a fantastic No10, Duran and Watkins as the strikers. Tielemans is the pacemaker in the centre of midfield. We also have to be very careful with every goal in this league phase. Every goal in the end can be decisive. We are going out on the pitch to try and win this game.
“It may be a surprise to see some big teams under the top eight, but for me Aston Villa was a team who could have competed in the top eight. They are really strong, but tomorrow we know this is very important for us as it is our last home game. We want to fight and we have to do this in every situation.”
Unai Emery speaks: “I think we are very motivated playing in the Champions League because the club didn’t play in it for a long time,” said Villa’s head coach. “Europe is always something special as well and I am always transmitting that to the players, trying to feel it with everybody this year and last year. We want to compete, to compete trying to be a protagonist in this competition. We have a very huge opportunity arriving here to play day seven with 13 points.
“I think we need three or four more points to get the top eight. Our target is to be in the top eight and tomorrow is the key. Firstly because Monaco has an opportunity if they are beating us to get 16 points and maybe they could be in the top eight as well.
“Our opportunity and our objective is not to get 16 – we will try to get 19 points because with that we will be there for sure. How we are playing this competition is the most important thing, trying to enjoy each moment; trying to focus on each match; trying to show our capacity and how we can face the best teams in the world.”
Aston Villa: The club have angrily rejected a second bid from West Ham for Jhon Durán out of hand, with Villa adamant the striker, who they value at about £100m, is not for sale. Duran signed a new contract until 2030 in October last year. Ben Fisher reports from Monaco …
Tonight’s match officials
Those teams: As expected, Amadou Onana sits this one out for Villa through injury, with Youri Tielemans expected to slot into his midfield berth. Lucas Digne comes in at left-back for Ian Maatsen, while Leon Bailey is also in the side with Jacob Ramsey making way.
Monaco duo Wilfried Zingo and Denis Zakaria both start despite pre-match doubts about their fitness, while Folarin Balogun misses out with a shoulder injury. Former Liverpool and Southampton midfielder Takumi Minamino also starts for Monaco.
Monaco v Aston Villa line-ups
Monaco: Majecki; Vanderson, Singo, Kehrer, Mawissa, Zakaria, Camara, Akliouche, Minamino, Seghir; Embolo
Subs: Kohn, Lienard, Teze, Golovin, Henrique, Ouattara, Salisu, Diatta, Diop, Michal, Bouabre, Magassa
Aston Villa: Martínez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; Kamara, Buendia; Bailey, Tielemans, Rogers; Watkins.
Subs: Gauci, Olsen, Duran, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Bogarde, Ramsey, Swinkels, Young
Monaco form guide: Fourth in Ligue1, 15 points behind leaders PSG, Monaco are managed by the Austrian Adi Hutter and come into this game having won just two of their last 11 games in all competitions. The most recent of those victories came in the French Cup against Union Saint-Jean, a French regional side. More recently, on Friday to be exact, Hutter’s side were beaten by Montpelier, who are currently rock-bottom of the French top flight.
Their results in this season’s Champions League have been largely decent but mixed, with Hutter masterminding victories over Barcelona, Red Star and Bologna, while watching his team lose their two most recent games against Benfica and Arsenal. In the second game of their campaign, away at Dinamo Zagreb, Monaco secured their only draw so far. Of the four Ligue1 teams in the Champions League, Monaco (16th) are behind Brest (7th) and Lille (8th) but ahead of PSG (25th).
Early team news
Villa midfielder John McGinn is back in training after recovering from a thigh injury but is unlikely to feature in this match. Amadou Onana, who pulled up with a hamstring injury during Villa’s draw at Arsenal on Saturday is also likely to miss out. Ross Barkley and Pau Torres are also sidelined, while Diego Carlos is suspended. New signing Donyell Malen is cup-tied until the knockout stages, having already played five group games in this season’s competition for Borussia Dortmund.
While Lamare Bogarde impressed after replacing Onana against Arsenal, he may have to settle for a place on the bench again if Emery decides to play Youri Tielemans in a more withdrawn role and bring Leon Bailey into the side.
Monaco have injury concerns of their own, with Nigerian striker George Ilenikhena and former Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun both due to miss out through injury. Senegalese winger Krepin Diatta is also out, while the participation of defenders Wilfried Singo and Denis Zakaria is also in doubt.
Preamble: Monaco v Aston Villa – Champions League
The Stade Louis II is the venue for this encounter between Monaco and Aston Villa in the penultimate round of group games of this season’s all-singing, all-dancing new Champions League format.
It’s the first ever competitive match between these two sides and a win for Villa, currently in fifth place in the 36-team table, would go a long way towards booking their place among the eight teams who qualify automatically for the last 16.
Defeat for Unai Emery’s side would move Monaco, currently in 16th place, level on points with Villa and greatly enhance their chances of booking a spot in the top eight with just one more group match away at Inter to go. A draw could be good enough for Monaco to guarantee their place in the knockout stages, if not the Round of 16. There’s plenty at stake on the French Riviera this evening, where kick-off is at 5.45pm (GMT).
