MATCH REPORT | Monaco 4-3 Barcelona: La Diagonale beat La Masia in UEFA Youth League opener | OneFootball

UEFA Youth League, Round 1, 19/09/24

Luke Entwistle reporting from La Turbie

AS Monaco’s La Diagonale academy got the better of Barcelona’s La Masia (4-3) in a topsy-turvy affair in the UEFA Youth League.

Monaco began the game on the front foot, with plenty of aggression and intensity in the press. However, as the half went on, that intensity dropped and with some players pressing, and others not, spaces logically appeared. Unsurprisingly, La Masia had the capacity to exploit those spaces with Arnau Pradas opening the scoring from Hugo Alba’s cross.

Saïmon Bouabré and Joan Tincres shine for Monaco

Before things got better for Les Monégasques, they got worse with Samuel Nibombe’s sloppy challenge going punished. Calm and composed, Alba finished from the spot. However, towards the end of the half, La Diagonale rallied and Joan Tincres halved the deficit with a back-post header from Nick Mokabakila’s cross; those two would combine again later on.

Saïmon Bouabré, the standout player on the day, then got on the scoresheet thanks to a curled effort into the top corner. That meant that Monaco and Barcelona went in level-pegging at the break. But once again, Les Monégasques’ intensity dropped and the press became disjointed. “When you’re playing against strong sides, you have to choose the right moments to press, and not press all the time. We were taught a good lesson,” analysed La Diagonale manager and former Liverpool player Djimi Traoré post-match.

Pedro Fernandez Sarmiento, minutes after coming off the bench, allowed Barcelona to re-take the lead with a spectacular curling effort. But that lead lasted just a matter of minutes as Mokabakila found Tincres in the box once again, with the latter tucking home a composed left-foot finish.

With the game seemingly drifting towards a draw, Tincres, scorer of a brace, turned the provider, putting through substitute Lorenzo Carvalho through on goal. His finish was composed and despite a late wave of pressure, La Diagonle withstood it to win this battle of the prestigious academies.

“It was a big, big challenge to play against a great team like Barcelona […] they hurt us but we showed a lot of character; that’s what I liked,” reacted Traoré. Monaco next face Dinamo Zagreb.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle