Monaco – Braga, facts and stats | UEFA Europa League
After narrowly missing out on UEFA Champions League qualification last summer, Monaco won three and drew three in the UEFA Europa League group stage, taking four points from each of their opponents, Sturm Graz, PSV Eindhoven and Real Sociedad also qualified.
Braga took ten points from Group F to finish second behind Red Star Belgrade. The Portuguese then beat Moldovan champions Sheriff 3-2 on penalties in February, after the two teams won their home game 2-0, ending a three-game losing streak in the knockout stages. direct elimination from the competition.
Previous meetings
• When the two clubs first met in UEFA competition on 10 March, Braga took an early lead through Abel Ruiz but had to wait until the 89th minute for Vítor Oliveira to double the advantage, scoring his first but European header from a precise center by Fabiano.
• Monaco have lost six of their ten matches against Portuguese teams (2 wins, 2 draws), including the 3-0 defeat against Porto in the 2004 UEFA Champions League final in Gelsenkirchen and their last home game, another defeat 0-3 against Porto on matchday two of the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League.
• Against Porto in the 2017/18 Champions League, Monaco suffered their first home defeat against Portuguese opponents. Monaco have beaten Portuguese sides twice, the first of those two wins coming against Belenenses (3-0) in the second leg of the first round of the 1989/90 European Cup Winners’ Cup to seal qualification for the only double confrontation of Monaco against the Portuguese (aggregate 4-1).
• Braga have been eliminated in their last two doubles encounters with French opponents, against Paris Saint-Germain in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup Round of 16 (0-0, 0-1) and Marseille in the Round of 16 final of the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League (0-3, 1-0). His only other matches against a French club also came against Marseille, in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League group stage (3-2, 0-1).
• Braga have never won or scored in France (1 draw, 2 losses).
About the teams
monaco
• Third in Ligue 1 last season, five points behind champions LOSC Lille, Monaco return to Europe in 2021/22 after two seasons away.
• The Principality side had their sights set on a tenth appearance in this year’s Champions League group stage, but after successfully beating Sparta Praha in the third qualifying round, Niko Kovač’s men were eliminated in the play-offs by Shakhtar Donetsk after extra time, which allowed them to reach the group stage of the UEFA Europa League, where they won against Sturm (1-0, 1-1), to Real Sociedad (1-1, 2-1) and PSV (2-1, 0-0).
• Kovač was replaced as head coach in January by Philippe Clément, who joined from Belgian champions Club Brugge.
• This is Monaco’s first UEFA Europa League round of 16 appearance, their only previous appearance in the competition proper having ended in the 2015/16 group stage. The Princes were UEFA Champions League semi-finalists in 2016/17.
• Monaco have qualified 8 out of 21 times after a first-leg away defeat in Europa, the last time knocking out Manchester City in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League round of 16 on away goals (3-5, 3-1). It is one of only two out of seven times that Monaco have qualified after an away first leg defeat by two but a margin.
• Monaco are undefeated on the return home after losing the opener by two goals (5 wins, 2 draws).
• Monaco once lost 2-0 in the away leg of UEFA competition before losing at Braga, that was at Valencia in the first round of the 1980/81 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, the players du Rocher tied 3-3 in the return.
Braga
• Braga’s qualification for the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League group stage, the club’s 17th European qualification in the last 18 years, was achieved on two fronts: a fourth place in the Portuguese La Liga and a third victory in the Portuguese Cup, obtained thanks to a 2-0 victory against Benfica in the final.
Last season, Carlos Carvalhal’s side reached the UEFA Europa League Round of 16, where they lost 5-1 on aggregate to Roma.
• Runners-up to Leicester City in last season’s group stage, Braga also had to settle for second place this year. A 1-1 draw at home to Crvena zvezda on matchday six forced Arsenalistas into second place in Group F behind champions Serbia, who had beaten 2-1 in Belgrade on matchday one. Six of Braga’s ten points came at the expense of Ludogorets (1-0, 4-2), while they took three points from Midtjylland (3-1, 2-3) to finish ahead of the Danes.
• The northern Portuguese side are in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 for the third time. Despite being beaten in the round of 16 in each of their last three appearances, Braga’s side have a perfect record at this stage of the competition, having eliminated Liverpool in 2010/11 (1-0, 0-0) en route to the final, which they lost in Dublin to Porto, and Fenerbahçe in 2015/16 (0-1, 4-1).
• Braga have qualified 11 out of 11 after a first-leg win at home, including a 2-0 victory against Chievo Verona in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup first round, which overcame a 2-1 loss after extension in Italy. The last three qualifiers have all come after 1-0 home wins, most notably against Liverpool in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League Round of 16.
UEFA Europa League squad changes
Braga
Added : David Carmo, Dinis Pinto, Bernardo Fontes
Retired : Mario González (Tenerife, loan), Chiquinho (Benfica, end of loan), Raul Silva (Estoril, loan), Lucas Piazón, Galeno (Porto)
monaco
Added : Vanderson (Gremio), Jean Marcelin
Retired : Krepin Diatta, Wilson Isidor (Lokomotiv Moscow)
We know each other…
• 21-year-old Portuguese international Gelson Martins joined the club from Atlético de Madrid in 2019 after starting his career at Sporting CP, where his record against Braga was 3 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses. He notably played alongside current Braga players Paulo Oliveira and Iuri Medeiros at the Lisbon club.
• Braga have 19-year-old French midfielder Jean-Baptiste Gorby in their squad. He joined the club as a player in the Nantes youth team in 2019.
• The clubs met in a no-buts friendly in Braga on 24 July 2019.
• Portuguese coach Leonardo Jardim has been in charge of both clubs. Braga boss in 2011/12, he led Monaco to the French Ligue 1 title and the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2016/17.
• Braga have scored exactly 102 goals in the UEFA Europa League, from group stage to final, becoming the 13th club to reach the total in the competition – and Portugal’s third, after Sporting (109) and Benfica (102) ) – when Ricardo Horta scored his second but against Sheriff on February 24.
• While playing for Braga in the first leg of the knockout stage against Sheriff, Roger Fernandes became, at the age of 16 years and 88 days, the youngest participant in the UEFA Europa League, from the group stage to the final.
• Braga are one of three current domestic cup winners in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16, along with FC Barcelona and Crvena zvezda.
On penalties
• Monaco won their only European penalty shoot-out, 3-1 against Real Valladolid, quarter-final of the 1989/90 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup
• Braga won both of their European penalty shootouts 5-4 against Udinese in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League play-offs and 3-2 against Sheriff Tiraspol in 2021/22 in the UEFA Champions League play-offs UEFA Europa League knockout