Barcelona suffered their first competitive defeat in the opening match of the Champions League under Hansi Flick.

Barcelona made a flying start to the 2024-25 La Liga season. The Catalans have won five games in five, scoring 17 goals and conceding just four. Flick was under pressure to translate Barcelona’s early success into the Champions League, a competition the club has struggled to find success in in recent years. Barcelona’s first European test came away to Monaco.

The Spanish side dominated possession from kick-off, using quick passes to dissect and probe Monaco’s disciplined defensive line. However, Barcelona were caught out when Marc-André ter Stegen played a poor pass out of defence to Eric García. Takumi Minamino picked out the midfielder on the edge of the penalty area, prompting García to make a final, clumsy tackle that resulted in a straight red card.

With 10 men, the visitors conceded a goal six minutes later. Barcelona saw Maghnes Akliouche almost dribble into the penalty area, switched to his left leg and shot past a standing Ter Stegen. However, it was none other than Lamine Yamal who pulled Barcelona back into the game with an equalizer in the 28th minute.

The second half was uneventful from either side until the 72nd minute. Barcelona were caught with a ball over the top, and played George Ilenikhena through on goal with Iñigo Martínez trailing. The substitute put his team 2-1 up and ultimately decided the match for the hosts.

Monaco had another chance from the penalty spot to double their lead, but a VAR review ruled that Martínez Folarin failed to bring down Balogun in the penalty area.

Barcelona failed to equalize in the closing stages and went back to Spain with zero points.

Starters

GK: Marc-André ter Stegen – 5/10 – The keeper’s poor pass from inside his own penalty area earned García a red card, leaving his team down to ten men for 80 minutes. He was beaten at the near post for Monaco’s opening goal and made several shaky saves in the second half.

RB: Jules Koundé – 6/10 – Koundé kept Ben Seghir calm and limited the 19-year-old’s chances in the final third. The right-back was one of the leaders of the counter-attack for Barcelona.

CB: Pau Cubarsí – 6/10 – The 17-year-old did what he could to keep Barcelona in the game, making several key saves to prevent what would have been Monaco’s inevitable winning goal.

CB: Iñigo Martinez – 5/10 – Martínez was caught completely off guard in the 72nd minute, allowing George Ilenikhena to decide the match for Monaco. He was also lucky to be booked just three minutes later for pushing Wilfried Singo.

LB: Alejandro Balde – 5/10 – Balde did well to link up with Raphinha in the second half, but he will be remembered for his failure to stop Akliouche from scoring Monaco’s opening goal.

DM: Eric García – N/A – The midfielder was sent off after just ten minutes after denying Takumi Minamino a real chance to score.

DM: Marc Casadó – 7/10 – Casadó put in a disciplined, smart performance against Monaco, the midfielder making several tactical errors to disrupt the hosts’ attacking efforts and bravely helping his defensive line survive with ten men.

RW: Lamine Yamal – 7/10 – After making a few uncharacteristic mistakes in the early stages of the match, the teenager came into his game and scored his first ever Champions League goal, putting his team on the scoreboard.

Morning: Pedri – 5/10 – Pedri lost most of the duels in the match and was outclassed by Akliouche in AS Monaco’s first goal.

LW: Raphinha – 6/10 – The Brazilian had some flashy counter-attacks but never found the quality in the final third of the game to score a goal for Barcelona.

ST: Robert Lewandowski – 5/10 – The striker was unable to do much in attack when his team had to continue with ten men, but he was the captain against Monaco.

Substitutes

Ferran Torres – 5/10 – The attacker only managed to touch the ball twice in the short time he was on the field.

Gerard Martin – 5/10 – Martín had little chance to make an impact with Barcelona already 2-1 down.

Sergi Dominguez – 5/10 – The defender entered the field to strengthen Barcelona’s defence.

Pablo Torre – n/a

Ansu Fati – n/a

Manager

Hansi Flick – 6/10 – It would be unfair to judge Flick too harshly after his team fought valiantly with ten men for over 85 minutes. However, the manager decided to start García in place of the injured Olmo and the midfielder’s red card all but gave Monaco the win tonight. Perhaps the outcome tonight would have been different if Flick had gone for Torres.