FEATURE | Three things we learnt as Monaco defeat Marseille and open up captivating race for Champions League
FEATURE | Three things we learnt as Monaco defeat Marseille and open up captivating race for Champions League AS Monaco continued their resurgence to defeat Marseille at Stade Louis II on Sunday and further stake a claim for that highly sought-after podium spot synonymous with Champions League football. New manager, still a leaky defence for Marseille One of Habib Beye’s objectives when he was appointed as Marseille manager was to shore up a shaky defence, but with two more goals conceded against Monaco Les Phocéens have the third worst defensive record since the turn of the year. Only OGC Nice and FC Metz have conceded more goals that Marseille since the start of 2026 – and it seems no matter what Beye does, the old habit is proving hard to kill off.
“It’s true that there are scenarios which are repeating and we need to know how to manage that,” said Beye at his unveiling press conference in February. “We need to know how to do that. We need to work on these defensive situations to these scenarios,” the former Newcastle defender added.
Against Monaco, it looked like Beye may have found the solution in CJ Egan-Riley and Benjamin Pavard, once again calling into question Leonardo Balerdi’s role with the Argentine starting on the bench in the Principality. Despite a momentary semblance of compactness in the first half, it unravelled again for Marseille as Golovin found space between Egan-Riley and Pavard to met Teze’s cross. A mistake from Højbjerg saw Balogun bear down on goal, and Egan-Riley couldn’t do enough to catch up with the American before he saw Rulli off his line.
Marseille have now conceded at least two goals per game for the 13th time during this calendar year. Balogun bang in form during a World Cup year Folarin Balogun scored one of the goals of the season at Stade Louis II against Marseille, latching onto a mis-hit pass from Højbjerg and engaging in a foot race with CJ Egan-Riley to the edge of the box. Perhaps no one anticipated what the American was going to do next, when he provided a deft chip which caught Geronimo Rulli off guard and looped into the back of the net.
In the process, the former Arsenal man has broke a record for Monaco previously held by Wissam Ben Yeddar in 2019. Balogun became the first player since Ben Yeddar to score in six consecutive Ligue 1 matches with Monaco, coinciding with a resurgence that has put the Principality side right back into the race for direct Champions League qualification. Two horse race for Champions League qualification turns into all-out brawl Monaco’s win over Marseille now effectively means that any one of LOSC, Marseille, Monaco, Lyon and Rennes could theoretically grab that third place spot to qualify directly for the Champions League next season.