This article was first published on footballromance.com (a predecessor to this website) in August 2016.
Line-ups
Monaco made a whole host of changes to their starting XI, with goalkeeper Danijel Subasic and central defender Kamel Glik the only men to keep their places in the side from the weekend. Bernardo Silva has been in and out of the team in the early part of the season but was given the nod after an influential display in Spain.
Villarreal were again hampered by a series of injury issues and as a result Fran Escribá was forced to rely on the vast majority of players who started Saturday’s draw at Granada. Jose Angel (left-back), skipper Bruno (central midfield) and Rafael Santos Borré (forward) were the new faces in the side.
Rigid Villarreal
The opening stages of the clash were surprisingly frantic, with neither team able to get their foot on the ball and keep it for any significant length of time. The Spaniards in particular were rushed in possession and hoisted several high balls forward towards Alexandre Pato and Borré, a tactic which didn’t work for them at any stage of the contest, even after the powerful Alfred N’Diaye was sent on in an attacking role in the final 10 minutes.
In the opening period, the Yellow Submarine had great difficulty piecing together any kind of fluid attacking moves in general, mainly due to the fact that there was a huge gap between Bruno and Manu Trigueros, their central midfield duo, and their front two.
There were a few moments of promise when Pato dropped deep to collect the ball into feet, while Roberto Soriano very occasionally picked up possession in good positions after coming inside to escape the attentions of home left-back Djibril Sidibé and defensive midfielder Tiemoué Bakayoko. However, the Brazilian and the Italian were more often than not let down by a poor touch or an inaccurate pass, which enabled their opponents to get back into position and intercept.
Indeed, the only notable first-half chance for the visitors came as a result of a rare defensive error from the hosts. Glik’s clearing header cannoned off a teammate in midfield and fell kindly for Bruno, whose slide-rule pass set Borré clean through on goal; the young Colombian lacked conviction, however, and Subasic saved.
Monaco assert themselves in midfield
After an even opening 10 minutes, L’ASM dominated the midfield battle, with holding midfielders Fabinho and Bakayoko, unlike their counterparts, enjoying time and space on the ball. Both players also showed plenty of aggression defensively, which enabled Leonardo Jardim’s side to win possession high up the pitch to good effect; Valère Germain and Bakayoko both got shots away as a result of this, while the former could have found himself through on goal on a couple of occasions had his teammates’ final ball been more accurate.
With Monaco ahead in the tie and not having to chase the game, there wasn’t a great deal of emphasis on their full-backs to get forward and right-back Andrea Raggi in particular showed little attacking intent (Villarreal had very little joy down his side of the field). The principality outfit were happy to leave captain Nabil Dirar one-on-one with Jose Angel and the Moroccan was able to deliver some threatening balls into the area, the best of which came from a throw-in and saw Thomas Lemar nearly sneak a shot underneath Sergio Asenjo.
Bernardo Silva roaming
But the most eye-catching aspect of the hosts’ attacking play was the performance of Bernardo Silva, who played as a second striker alongside Germain when the Spaniards had the ball but was given a free role when Les Monégasques were in possession. The Portuguese showed great versatility and considerable skill throughout the first half, sweeping across the field from right to left, coming short, going long, playing short, intricate passes and taking opponents on. Silva essentially moved into the area of the opposition half where the ball was and was very difficult to pin down, although he wasn’t quite able to find a telling final product.
The Spaniards higher and more fluid after half time
The pattern of the match changed after the break, with Villarreal having clearly been told to move their defensive line considerably further up the pitch. In the very first minute of the half, centre-back Victor Ruiz, who was stationed in a similar position to where midfielder Bruno had been in the first period, was able to play an accurate ball into Pato’s feet for the first time.
The Spaniards’ lines were much less rigid in the second half and as a result the man in possession had a greater number of passing options. Pato continually pulled to the left flank or occupied the space between Monaco’s midfield and defence; he found space and time to turn on Ruiz’s earlier pass and slide the ball through for Borré, whose finishing was again wasteful. Trigueros, meanwhile, who barely got out of his own half in the first 45 minutes, was also seen in more attacking areas, with Bruno left to dictate play from deeper.
With Raggi and the disciplined Dirar manning the right flank for the home team, Pato’s ventures to the left wing ultimately bore little fruit and Villarreal’s best hope of constructing a coherent attacking move continued to be on the other side of the field. Samu Castillejo, who had switched flanks with Soriano towards the end of the first half, often drifted off Sidibe and came infield, but he was crowded out at the last second when it seemed as if something promising were about to take place. His positioning did, however, encourage Mario Gaspar to venture forward more, with the right-back able to supply two particularly good balls into the area just before the hour mark.
The hosts forced back…but comfortable
Monaco barely featured as an attacking force for much of the second half, with Fabinho and Bakayoko forced to change their games. Only once or twice did the latter drive forward, but they broke up play effectively and played important roles in restricting the Spaniards, who continually tried to force their way through the centre, to very few efforts on goal.
With Villarreal obliged to push more bodies forward, counterattacks were the hosts’ best hope of killing the game off; with Fabinho and Bakayoko sitting deeper and Mario pushing further and further forward, Sidibe was more prepared to bomb on than he had been in the first half and it was he who won the late penalty, converted by Fabinho for the only goal of the game, in one of his rampages upfield. Germain had earlier had a couple of opportunities to run in behind the visiting defence, but didn’t do enough to commit Mateo Musacchio, who stood his ground to block.
Sidibe was arguably Monaco’s most effective attacker in the final stages of the match, while Silva, who had been anonymous for much of the second half, also came back to fore as gaps began to appear in the away defence. Despite the numbers the Yellow Submarine threw forward, the hosts finished in the ascendency and at no stage ever looked like losing the tie.