21 April 2015
Group C
Monaco 1-0 Leverkusen, Stade Louis II, 16 September 2014
Monaco kicked off their Champions League Group C campaign with a 1-0 win over a Bayer Leverkusen side who were left to rue a hatful of missed opportunities at the Stade Louis II.
The telling moment arrived on 61 minutes when Joao Moutinho collected Dimitar Berbatov’s knockdown and lashed a shot beyond Bernd Leno via the aid of a deflection.
Zenit 0-0 Monaco, Stadion Petrovski, 1 October 2014
The two early group leaders went head-to-head in Russia, with neither side able to prevail on a night where defences came out on top.
While Monaco had the lion’s share of the chances in the first half, it was the hosts who grew back into the encounter after the break.
A late rally, however, saw the visitors almost take all three points on 70 minutes, substitute Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco hitting the post after having his first effort stopped by Yuri Lodygin.
Monaco 0-0 Benfica, Stade Louis II, 22 October 2014
Goalkeeper Danijel Subasic was the star of the show as he foiled Benfica on numerous occasions to extend the Les Rouge et Blanc's run of consecutive Champions League clean sheets to three.
The best chance of a tight encounter fell to Monaco in the opening stages, with Lucas Ocampos missing an open goal after Berbatov had seemingly provided him with a golden opportunity.
Benfica 1-0 Monaco, Estadio da Luz, 4 November 2014
A resolute Monaco performance in Portugal proved in vain as Talisca struck on 82 minutes to claim Benfica’s first win of their Group C campaign.
With Ferreira-Carrasco proving a real thorn in the hosts’ rearguard, Leonardo Jardim’s men looked set to come away with at least a point, only for a late strike, their first goal conceded in the Champions League campaign, to leave them empty handed.
Leverkusen 0-1 Monaco, BayArena, 26 November 2014
Substitute Ocampos struck within moments of entering the fray to snatch Monaco all three points against already-qualified Leverkusen, leaving their qualification aspirations entirely in their own hands with one game remaining.
Following an accomplished display in which they restricted the Bundesliga outfit to efforts from range, Monaco secured victory on 72 minutes when Nabil Dirar crossed for Ocampos to apply the winning touch.
Monaco 2-0 Zenit, Stade Louis II, 9 December 2014
Second-half goals from Aymen Abdennour and Fabinho enabled Monaco to bag top spot in Group C and take their place in the competition’s last 16, ousting Zenit from the qualification running in the process.
Only two teams in the Champions League have scored fewer than Monaco’s tally of four and advanced from the group stages.
Last 16
Arsenal 1-3 Monaco, Emirates Stadium, 25 February 2015
A memorable night in North London saw Monaco seize the initiative with a last 16 3-1 first leg win.
Geoffrey Kondogbia and Berbatov put the visitors two goals to the good in the second half before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pulled one back for the Gunners in injury time. But with the hosts rampaging forward, Ferreira-Carrasco caught them cold with a third in the game’s dying stages.
Monaco 0-2 Arsenal, Stade Louis II, 17 March 2015
It was to be a different story entirely in the return leg though, as Monaco weathered an Arsenal onslaught to claim their first quarter-final place in the competition since the 2003/04 campaign.
Strikes from Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey set the game up for a frantic finale but Les Rouge et Blanc dug in to secure a spot in the last eight on the away goals rule.
