You had to see it settled by Niko Kovac against Real Sociedad to understand that the most important match of the week was indeed that of this afternoon against Bordeaux. We don’t do without Volland, Maripan, Golovin, Gelson and Ben Yedder at kick-off by chance. The Monegasque coach favored the championship and he does not regret this choice because his team brought back a good draw from the Basque Country, leaving less feathers than expected in the battle, even if Sidibé joined Fabregas in the infirmary due to adductor pain.

She is now undefeated for five games, a series that she will strive to preserve against Girondins, 16^es of the championship but in clear progress for two matches.

“In the right direction”

“Bordeaux is a historic French football club. They got off to a bad start, but like my arrival last season, all the coaches need a little time to get to know Ligue 1 and their players. Now, the Bordelais are progressing, the players know what to do with and without the ball. Vladimir Petkovic is doing a very good job. We are expecting a big game, they will be fresh and we will have to try to break through their defense at five “, Niko Kovac is wary.

Eighth with 11 points after 8 days, the same record as the last season at this time, AS Monaco on occasion in the event of a third consecutive success in L1 recall at the top of the standings. If it is not yet the flamboyant team of the second part of last season, it has returned to the place after a failed start to the championship and has just taken 7 points out of 9 possible, seeing positive signals in attitude and in play.

“We are improving little by little, left the Monaco bus. These are not big steps, they are small steps, because we have to put more energy into each match, but things are going in the right direction. ASM is more efficient in both surfaces but it still takes too many goals “on small errors “.

Clean-sheet hoped for

Like her opponent of the day, she has never managed to keep her clean sheet this season in L1. “I tell you that this first clean-sheet, we are impatiently awaiting it. When it happens, it will do everyone good “, a confirm Aurélien Tchouameni who hopes to join the Blues on Monday for the final phase of the League of Nations. “It’s important to win before the international break to have a little more serene break period. “

To do this, the Monegasques will deal with their problems at home, where they took only four points out of twelve. Very insufficient according to Kovac. “When you coach a European team, victory at home is imperative. Our statistics are not good. We owe it to ourselves to change that. “

The probable lines