AS Monaco: Hutter speaks ahead of crucial Auxerre and Barcelona clashes
With AS Monaco returning to action following the international break, coach Adi Hutter spoke insightfully ahead of a busy week, that not only sees Les Monegasques face off with AJ Auxerre, but also take on Barcelona in the Champions League.
Exciting times await
“We must focus only on the match against AJA tomorrow because the championship is our daily bread. So we must not think about Barcelona yet because we will have plenty of time to prepare afterwards,” Hutter insisted.
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“This is a team that beat OGC Nice in the last minute and conceded two defeats due to having a man down. In France, all teams are difficult to negotiate away from home because they are pushed by their fans. We will have to be particularly wary of Theo Bair. He is a big striker and Auxerre is a team that crosses a lot. After three games, they are in fact the team that makes the most.”
Key selections to make
Given many of Monaco’s players have been away on international duty and endured some long trips, it was interesting to hear Hutter’s thoughts on how he’ll need to manage the squad for this hectic period.
“This week, we will play two league games against Auxerre and Le Havre, as well as the match against Barcelona in the middle. It is our job, with the technical staff, to find the right formula for each of these games. Tomorrow, you may see players you haven’t thought of. But as I said two weeks ago, we have to prepare the team so that everyone is ready to play. This is also the case tomorrow,” he said.
“Some players like Folarin Balogun, Wilfried Singo and Takumi Minamino are returning from international duty today. I will speak with them to see if they are available because they have travelled a long way and only played three days ago. With the technical staff and with the support of the analysts, we have had good conversations in order to decide on a composition that we are fully convinced of.
“For example, do we play with one or two attackers or with three or four defenders? We have the quality for that and the players. It depends on the opponents, but I don’t want to reveal too much about the starting XI.”
Barcelona on the horizon
The mouthwatering Champions League clash with Barcelona was on the agenda as well, but, while excited, Hutter insisted his team will still remain highly focused on their Ligue 1 exertions.
“Every game is different, the opponents are different too,” he commented. “We will face Auxerre away before hosting Barcelona in five days. In my opinion, the championship is our daily bread. Last year too, I said that we wanted to qualify for the Champions League. Now that we have, we want to be good and do well in this new formula – the objective of which is first to pass the first round. But I repeat, our daily bread is the championship and tomorrow’s match is very, very important. And overall, this week is too. So we have to negotiate it well before thinking about the following ones.”
Currently sitting joint-second in the Ligue 1 standings just two points off leaders Paris Saint-Germain and eager for their colossal UCL clash against a Barcelona team who they recently defeated 0-3 in the Joan Gamper Trophy, this week looms as a fascinating one for all associated with the club.