Barcelona’s perfect record to start the new season came to an end on their European debut, as the Catalans lost 2-1 to AS Monaco in the Louis II Stadium in their Champions League opener on Thursday. Barça saw Eric García sent off after just 10 minutes and had to chase for the rest of the evening, unable to salvage even a point despite fighting as hard as they could with 10 men for most of the match.

FIRST HALF

Hansi Flick made a surprising decision to include Eric García in the starting lineup, bolstering the midfield for a European away match. His choice backfired after just 10 minutes: Marc-André ter Stegen made a poor pass that put Eric in a difficult position, and the defender fouled Takumi Minamino on the edge of the penalty area and was shown a red card for denying a genuine scoring opportunity.

Then Maghnes Akliouche scored a fine left-footed goal to put the home side ahead, and Barça were suddenly in trouble after just 15 minutes. For a moment it looked as if they would go behind by more goals, as Monaco easily found gaps in the Blue-green defence, while the Catalans quickly tried to recover, but some crucial interventions from Pau Cubarsí and Iñigo Martínez and a couple of well-timed offside traps prevented the visitors from getting into further trouble.

Barça could no longer press high up the pitch and gave up on having much possession, and Flick’s team became very direct, trying to get the ball from back to front as quickly as possible while Pedri and Marc Casadó ran around in midfield to link the lines. Lamine Yamal also played a big part in keeping the ball and helping the defenders get some relief, and he brought Barça back into the game with a beautiful finish and his first Champions League goal of his career.

The last 15 minutes of the period were wild and chaotic, with Monaco creating a number of big chances and both teams taking each other on with heavy tackles. The referee struggled to keep things under control and had to issue a number of yellow cards to calm things down.

The half-time whistle came to end a mad first half, with Barça down a man but still in the game. Could Flick work his half-time magic to give his team a chance in the second half?

SECOND HALF

Barça started the final period well. They defended deeper, closer to the goal, and did not give away any easy chances. They used quick, sharp passes to become really dangerous on the counter.

The visitors controlled the game for the first 15 minutes of the first half and Monaco only found themselves in trouble once, thanks to a long-range shot from Vanderson, which was well saved by Ter Stegen.

Monaco slowly but surely regained their dominance and began to look more dangerous, with Adi Hütter making a positive impact with his substitutions. And one of them put the home side back in front: a long ball from the back found George Ilenikhena all alone with time and space to run into the penalty area, and the striker fired the ball past Ter Stegen and into the net to give Monaco their second lead of the night.

Barca struggled to generate momentum in their late comeback bid, with Hansi Flick short on options on the bench. Ferran Torres was the only forward to come on as the coach made a triple substitution with 10 minutes remaining, while Monaco looked comfortable, pressing high and looking to find the third goal to secure victory.

The home side nearly had that chance with five minutes to go when the referee pointed to the spot after Folarin Balogun went down in the penalty area after a foul by Iñigo Martínez. However, VAR signalled to the referee and the decision was overturned as it was clear that Balogun had dived.

Barça had a slim chance to salvage a point in the closing stages, and their best chance came when Raphinha was awarded a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area, but fired it over the bar. Monaco wasted time in the dying seconds and the final whistle came to give them all three points.

We will never know how the game would have ended differently if Ter Stegen had not made the early mistake that saw Eric García sent off, but Barça’s hunger, willpower and organisation in the final 80 minutes with 10 men showed that they can still play at a high level under Flick.

As strange as it may sound, this was a good moment and a good way to suffer their first defeat. It doesn’t really damage the team’s confidence given the circumstances, and it shows that they are clearly on the right track and will have much better nights in Europe this season.

Monaco: Kohn; Singo, Kehrer, Salisu, Vanderson (Magassa 88′); Camara (Golovin 46′), Zakaria; Akliouche, Minamino (Balogun 70′), Ben Seghir (Henrique 70′); Embolo (Ilenichena 59′)

Goals: Akliouche (16′), Ilenikhena (71′)

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Cubarsí (Domínguez 79′), Iñigo, Balde (Fati 88′); Casado, Eric; Yamal (Ferran 79′), Pedri (Torre 83′), Raphinha; Lewandowski (Martín 79′)

Goal: Jamal (28′)

Red card: Erik (11′)