AS Monaco – Toulouse FC: The Race For Europe Reaches Its Conclusion (1-2)

AS Monaco needed to beat Toulouse and for either Lille or Rennes to drop points to be in with a chance of qualifying for the Conference League. It was a slim possibility but they were up against a team that had nothing left to play for and had scored one goal in the last five games. Surely there was some hope for Monaco, a team that in recent weeks worked hard to define hopelessness.

Tactical analysis and match report by Nick Hartland.

For ten weeks Monaco held onto fourth place. It was not where they wanted to be, as the expectations at the start of the season were for a third consecutive podium finish. However, as the weeks slipped by the reality was that Monaco was not going to meet those ambitions. Instead, qualification for the Europa League became the bare minimum and with six games left to go until the end of the season it looked certain.

Four losses, one draw, and a solitary victory against bottom-of-the-table Angers and Monaco dropped from fourth to sixth and outside of qualification for even the Conference League. With just one game left to play, Monaco stood knowing that after weeks with their future within their hands, a victory was no longer enough to secure European football they needed results elsewhere to go their way. And a team that was unhappy with Europa League football was now desperate for qualification to the Conference League. 

For what looked like the last time . . .