November 26, 2025
With the Champions League matches being broadcast on TNT Sports and Discovery Plus in the UK, today was an opportunity to finally add Cyprus to the number of countries covered by Fatbear !
This was the second time Monaco had featured in these diaries, after their 1-1 draw at Paris St Germain in August 2022.
Pafos FC
Fatbear had been to the town of Pafos and driven past their stadium whilst staying in Pissouri on holiday in Cyprus, but unfortunately no match was scheduled during that stay.
Pafos FC were founded in 2014 to represent the wider Pafos region following the merger of two local clubs, and started life in the Cypriot Second Division. Although promotion was achieved in their first season as runners-up, they were promptly relegated after their first season at the top level. However, they immediately bounced back at the first attempt, and have remained in the Cyprus First Division ever since.
Pafos won their first trophy by beating Omonia Nicosia 3-0 in the 2023/24 Cypriot Cup Final to play in Europe for the first time. After a 2-8 aggregate defeat in the Europa League to Swedish side Elfsborg, Pafos dropped down to the Europa Conference, where they got past Lithuanian side Zalgiris, Bulgarians CSKA 1948, and Romanian side CFR Cluj to reach the group stages.
Victories over Moldovan side Petrocub ( A 4-1 ), Astana from Kazakhstan ( H 1-0 ) and Slovenians Celje ( H 2-0 ) plus a 2-2 draw in Switzerland against Lugano saw Pafos finish 12th in the Group stage despite losses to Heidenheim ( H 0-1 ) and Fiorentina ( A 2-3 ).
In the knock stages, Pafos eliminated fellow Cypriot side Omonia 3-2 on aggregate before exiting at the Round of 16, 1-3 on aggregate to Swedish side Djurgardens.
Pafos won their first Cyprus League title last season, finishing ahead of Aris Limassol by seven points at the end of the Championship Round. Their average attendance in the regular season was 4,519, and 7,300 over their 5 final round matches.
Home is the 9,300 capacity Stelios Kyriakides Stadium, but due to the limitations of the ground, Champions League matches are being played 50 miles away in Limassol.
Pafos This Season
Pafos had made a strong defence of their title, leading the First Division with an 8-1-2 record to be two points ahead of Omonia, AEK Larnaca and Aris Limassol. The two defeats were a 1-2 loss to Omonia in Nicosia, and a 0-1 reverse at home to Apollon Limassol. Last time out Pafos beat Aris Limassol 2-1 at home. Their average home attendance so far was 4,260.
Pafos had an impressive run in the UEFA Champions league qualifiers, eliminating Maccabi Tel Aviv ( 2-1 on aggregate ), Dynamo Kiev ( 3-0 ) and Red Star Belgrade ( 3-2 ) to reach the Champions League Group Stages.
Although they were thrashed 1-5 at home to Bayern Munich, their two away matches had been 0-0 draws at Olympiakos and Kairat Almaty. However, they caused a major surprise in their last match, beating a star-studded Villareal side 1-0 at home, thanks to a goal from Dutch centre-back Derrick Lukassen.
Pafos started this round of matches in 20th place in the Champions League Table, which would take them to the knock-out stages if they could remain in the top 24. After tonight, they had games against Juventus ( A ), Chelsea ( A ) and Slavia Prague ( H ) to complete the group stage.
Pafos Squad
There are no restriction on the number of foreigners in the Cypriot league and the Pafos squad for this season contains only two locals, keeper Neoftyos Michail ( 16 caps ) and full-back Kostas Pileas ( 14 caps ), both of whom played extensively in Greece before returning to Cyprus.
There were several famous names in the Pafos squad, including ex-Chelsea, Arsenal, Paris St Germain and Benfica Brazilian centre back David Luiz ( 57 caps ), and Croatian midfield play-maker Mislav Orsic ( 27 caps ), who famously scored a hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur and a winning goal against Chelsea for Dinamo in Zagreb in European games.
Portuguese midfielder Domingos Quina had played in England for Watford, Fulham, Barnsley and Rotherham, Romanian midfielder Vlad Dragomir ( 3 caps ) had played in Italy for Perugia, and Bosnian midfielder Ivan Sunjic ( 6 caps ) had played for Birmingham City and Hertha Berlin.
Cape Verde defender Joao Correia ( 4 caps ) had played in Portugal for Chaves, Portuguese midfielder Pepe Rodrigues had played for Vitoria Guimares and Familicao in his home country as well as for Olympakos, midfielder Ken Sema ( 31 caps ) played 160 times for Watford, and Brazilian right-back Bruno Felipe had played for Olympiakos, Sheriff Tiraspol and Aris Salonica.
Brazilian striker Anderson Silva had played in China, Turkey, Portugal, in addition to Cyprus and his homeland, and Dutch centre-back Derrick Lukassen had played for AZ Alkmaar, PSV, Hertha Berlin, Anderlecht and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Dragomir and Quina were the top scorers this season with 4 goals, followed by Anderson Silva with 3 goals.
AS Monaco
Although the Principality of Monaco is a separate country, its football side play in the French League structure, and play as a French side when they qualify for Europe.
Monaco has a population of just under 40,000 and with an area of barely 2 sq km, is the second smallest country in the world after The Vatican. It is a tax haven and it is estimated that 30% of its residents are millionaires. There is no border with France, and on previous holidays to Nice we drove into Monte Carlo, drove around the Grand Prix circuit and out again !
Its football team were founded in 1924 and play at the 16,360 capacity Stade Louis II. Their home colours are red and white diagonal halved shirts with white shorts and red socks, and their nicknames include The Monagasques and the Red and Whites.
Monaco have won the French title on 8 occasions, the most recent being in 2016, and were runners-up in the 2003/04 Champions League, losing 0-3 to Porto after eliminating Chelsea and Real Madrid. They were also runners-up in the 1991/92 European Cup Winners Cup, losing 0-2 to Werder Bremen, having earlier knocked out Feyenoord, Roma and Swansea City.
In recent years Monaco had finished 6th, 2nd and 3rd in Ligue 1 and last season had an average attendance of 9,355.
Monaco This Season
Monaco came in to the game in 8th place in Ligue 1, with a 6-2-5, record but had lost their last three games, going down 0-1 at home to Paris FC, 1-4 at home to Lens and 1-4 at Rennes.
Monaco had started the season with four wins and a 0-1 loss at Lille, before losing 1-3 at Lorient. Two draws and then two wins followed before the current run of three losses. Swiss coach Adi Hutter was sacked early in October and replace by Belgian Sebastien Pocognoli, who led Union St Gilloise to an historic Belgian title last season. As a player, Pocognoli represented West Bromwich Albion, Brighton and Hove Albion, Genk, Standard Liege and Hannover.
Monaco’s average attendance so far this season was 8,900, the lowest in the division.
Monaco’s Champions League campaign got off to a disastrous start, losing 1-4 at Club Brugge, after which they needed a 90th minute penalty from Eric Dier to grab a 2-2 home draw with Manchester City, and were then held 0-0 at home by Tottenham Hotspur. A much need victory was finally achieved by a 1-0 win against Bodo/Glimt in Norway to take Monaco level on points with Pafos but one place above them on goal difference.
After tonight, Monaco still had to play Galatasaray ( H ), Real Madrid ( A ) and Juventus ( H ).
Monaco Squad
Of the team that played PSG in August 2020 Malian midfielder Mohamed Camara ( 35 caps ) is now with Qatar side Al Sadd, defenders Axel Disasi ( 5 caps ) and Benoit Badiashile ( 2 caps ) are Chelsea players although Disasi is on loan to Aston Villa, keeper Alexander Nubel is with VFB Stuttgart, forward Kevin Volland is now with German third tier side 1860 Munich after a spell with Union Berlin.
Midfielder Youssef Fofana ( 25 caps ) has joined AC Milan, Swiss striker Breel Embolo ( 83 caps ) is now playing for Rennes and striker Wissam Ben Yeddar ( 19 caps ) now plies his trade in Turkey with Sakaryaspor.
Only Russian midfielder Alexsandr Golovin ( 50 caps ), ex-Liverpool and Southampton Japanese midfielder Takumi Minamino ( 91 caps ), Brazilian left-back Caio Henrique ( 5 caps ) and winger Maghnes Akliouche ( 5 caps ) were still with the club.
In addition to Minamino, the current Monaco squad contained many players who had played in England. Ex-Sporting, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich centre-back/defensive midfielder Eric Dier had won 49 caps for England but is out at the moment with a calf injury, ex-Manchester United and Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba was a World Cup winner for France and won 91 caps, whilst Spanish winger Ansu Fati ( 10 caps ) is on loan from Barcelona after having a loan spell at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Ghanaian centre-back Mohammed Salisu ( 22 caps ) had played for Southampton and Valladolid, German defender Thilo Kehrer ( 28 caps ) had played for West Ham United, Schalke and Paris St Germain, Swiss defensive midfielder Denis Lakaria ( 61 caps ) had a short loan at Chelsea and also played for Borussia Moenchengladbach and Juventus. USA striker Florian Balogun ( 2 caps ) started his career at Arsenal and had a loan spell at Middlesborough
Finnish keeper Lukas Hradecky ( 102 caps ) had played for Brondby, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen, and PSV Eindhoven Dutch defender Jordan Teze had 4 caps. Senegalese winger Krepin Diatta ( 52 caps ) was previously with Club Brugge and Nigerian forward George Ilenikhena joined from Antwerp.
Fati was the top scorer with 5 goals followed by Balogun on 4 and Akliouche with 3 goals.
Watching Monaco
Fatbear has seen Monaco in action in the flesh on one occasion, when they drew 2-2 with Valencia in Arsenal’s pre-season Emirates Cup competition in August 2014.
The Monaco squad that day was packed with well-known names, including ex-Chelsea and Real Madrid Portuguese centre-back Ricardo Carvalho ( 89 caps ), ex-Manchester United, Tottenham, Fulham and Bayer Leverkusen Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov ( 78 caps, 48 goals ). Ex-Porto and Atletico Madrid Colombian striker Radamel Falcao ( 104 caps, 36 goals) went on to play for Manchester United and Chelsea, Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho ( 146 caps ) who later played for Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Argentinian winger Lucas Ocampos, who later made his name at Sevilla.
Monaco opened the scoring with an own goal but Carvalho levelled things up by half-time with a goal of his own. Paco Alcacer gave Valencia the lead mid-way through the second-half, but Ocampos equalised 10 minutes from the end.
The following game saw Arsenal beat Benfica 5-1 with Yaya Sanogo scoring four times. Sanogo went on to play for Crystal Palace, Ajax, Charlton Athletic, Huddersfield Town, Toulouse and appeared in these diaries with Armenian side Urartu. Costa Rican Joel Campbell got the other goal, and went on to win 150 caps for his country, but was loaned out by Arsenal on 7 occasions, including two spells each at Real Betis and Lorient, as well as Olympiakos, Villareal and Sporting in Lisbon.
The Emirates Cup was very popular with Arsenal fans, the two matches cost just £39 in the Club Level with a limited level of Corporate Hospitality extra but reasonably priced !
Matchday Information
The weather at the 19.45 local kick-off time ( 17.45 UK ) was dry and 19 degrees.
Bet365 made Monaco 9/20 favourites to win the match, with Pafos at 11/2 and the draw at 15/4.
Monaco made six changes from the side that was hammered at Rennes with the return of Caio Henrique, Brazilian defender Vanderson ( 5 caps ), Senegelese midfielder Lamine Camara ( 34 caps ) Balogun, Golovin and Minamino. Dropping out were Ilenikhena, Fati, Kehrer Diatta, Manadou Coulibaly and Kassoum Ouattata, all of whom except Diatta were on the bench, along with Pogba.
Pafos made two changes to the side that started at the weekend with Spanish centre-back David Goldar and Anderson Silva replacing Correia and ex-Anderlecht, VFL Wolfsburg, Espanyol, NEC Nijmegen and Samsunspor Belgian forward Landry Dimata. Correia, who scored both goals in the win at the weekend was suspended following a red card against Kairat Almaty, whilst Dimata was amongst the substitutes.
Pafos were playing in blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks whilst Monaco were in their usual red and white diagonal shirts.
The referee and his assistants were from Slovakia.
Match Report
Monaco made a fast start with Akliouche twice in the action in the first minute, first making a break down the right wing but no-one was on the end of his low cross. When Monaco reworked possession, Akliouche’s fierce 20-yard drive was pushed away by the diving Pafos keeper.
Minamino was also looking lively and was free on right hand side of area but he steered a bouncing ball a couple of yards wide of the far post. However, we didn’t have to wait for the first goal, and Akliouche played a neat pass for Minamino to run onto, and the Japanese midfielder toe-poked the ball across the goal and into far corner. 0-1 after 5 minutes.
Pafos nearly immediately struck back but after a lay-off by Dragomir, Anderson Silvas’ left-footed effort from edge of area looped over the keeper and crashed back from the crossbar. A minute later, an Orsic free-kick was swung to beyond far post and turned back by Anderson Silva, but it hit Luckasson and rolled off for a goal kick with the Monaco defence scrambling.
Bruno released Luckassen for a run down the right-wing and after his cross was partially cleared, Bruno’s shot from the 18 yard line was deflected wide for a corner for Pafos. Orsic’s delivery was met by David Luiz, who made a good run to evade his marker, and his bullet header flew into the top corner. 1-1 with 18 minutes played.
Three minutes later, Bruno fell theatrically to the floor when trying to stop Camara taking a quick free-kick. The replay showed his was pushed in face, and Camara was perhaps fortunate to see only a yellow card.
Disaster struck shortly after for Pafos. Keeper Michail played a terrible pass straight to Balogun, who took a touch and then fired into the net left-footed from 16 yards. Perhaps the face mask Michail was wearing obscured his vision ? Anyway it was 1-2 with 26 minutes on the clock.
Golovin then saw yellow for a kick on Felip and was very lucky not to see a second card a minute later when he leapt to block a cross from Orsic and the ball struck his outstretched arm. Orsic sent the free-kick to the centre of the goalmouth where Goldar made contact. It looked like the ball may have hit an arm of a Monaco defender, and Lukassen was unable to bundle the ball over the line, but the linesman’s flag was raised for offside.
Pafos were being sloppy with their passing in defence but Monaco couldn’t take advantage. The home fans must have been having kittens every time the ball was at the feet of Michail.
Monaco were looking more likely to score the next goal. Balogun was found on edge of area, turned, but shot well over the bar, then Minamino went on a strong run but his shot was high and wide, with the corner flag in more danger than the goal !
Michail made another ropey clearance but David Luiz and Lukassen were able to crowd out the Monaco attackers.
Balogun got past Orsic close to left-hand corner flag, but his dangerous looking ball was cleared by David Luiz at the near post ahead of Golovin. A diagonal ball then found Vanderson free unmarked on the right-hand side of the Pafos areas, but the shot from a tightish angle was saved by legs of Michail, and after some difficulty Pafos eventually cleared the loose ball.
As the first half headed into added on time, a good run Camara by saw him find Minamino on right wing, but low ball into the area was too far ahead of Balogun.
The last action of the half saw a yellow card shown to Goldar for a foul on Akliouche, which was probably for an accumulation of offences.
Monaco were good value for their lead at the interval and looked good going forward, and the Pafos defence looked shaky. However, the home side had had their moments when they attacked.
Pafos made one change at the break, with Mozambique left-back Bruno Langa ( 38 caps ) replacing Goldar.
The Monagasques came close to extending their lead three minutes in to the second period. Minamino puts Balogun clear but the angle was tight, and the shot was too close to the keeper, who blocked with his legs.
Zakaria made a powerful run down the left-hand channel but his ball across goalmouth went ahead of Minamino.
It was now Monaco’s turn to be sloppy in possession in defence as they started to repeatedly give the ball away.
In the 52nd minute the ball was slipped through for Anderson Silva, but his shot across the goal was pushed away one handed by Hradecky.
The game went through a spell when neither side was able to create any clear-cut changes. Dragomir’s header was comfortably saved by Hradecky and at the other end Zakaria’s header was an easy save for Michail. Balogun turned just inside the Pafos area but shot over the bar.
The Pafos keeper again gave the ball straight to a Monaco player, but the Monagasques over-elaborated and lost possession.
With 18 minutes left to play, Orsic went on a good run and saw his shot blocked. Sunjic’ shot from rebound was blocked, and the follow-up blocked for a corner. Pafos substitute Jaja then won a corner off Minamino, but Orsic’s corner was punched away under pressure by Hradecky.
At the other end, a Monaco free-kick hit Sunjic and bounced through to Michail.
As the game entered its final ten minutes, Jaja cut in from left and shot left-footed, but his effort was bravely blocked by Salisu.
Orisc then played a through pass to Bassouamina, who made a great turn and laid off to Dimata, who crashed to the floor when trying to run into the Monaco area, but it was no foul.
Pafos were piling on the pressure as they searched for the equaliser. Orsic’s cross was headed by Salisu only as far as Jaja, whose shot was blocked for a corner by Caio Henriques. A long throw bounced across the Monaco area to Orsic, who tried to carefully place his shot low into the far corner, but Hradecky produced a great save to push away for a corner.
Orsic’s corner was cleared straight back to him, enabling him to cross into the 6-yard box. Sunjic’s header hit the bar and struck the unfortunately Salisu at close range, who had no chance of getting out of the way, and the ball bobbled into the net. 2-2 after 88 minutes
As the game moved into added time, Orsic hooked the ball forward and Bassouamina ran after it, only to be cynically brought down by Salisu, who received a yellow card for hit efforts. Orsic’s free-kick was headed away, but Orsic collected the loose ball to cross again, but Hradecky confidently claimed the cross.
It was end-to-end as both sides push forward to try and win the game, and for Monaco, Teze’s teasing cross was punched away by Michail, which had come after Orsic had tracked back to make an important tackle to stop a Monaco counter attack.
The last action of the match saw Zakaria slide in to intercept a Pafos cross from the left, and the ball struck him on the arm as he lay on the floor. The final whistle was blown to end the game, but although VAR can award penalties after the match has finished, there was no VAR review and it remained 2-2.
On balance a draw was probably a fair result, which left the two sides in the last two qualifying places.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USUnV4BvjJA
Pafos FC : Michail – Luckassen, David Luiz, Goldar ( Langa ) - Bruno, Sunjic, Pepe, Dragonmir ( Dimata ) – Quina ( Jaja ), Orsic, Anderson Silva ( Bassouamina )
AS Monaco : Hradecky – Caio Henrique, Vanderson ( Kehrer ), Salisu -– Teze, Camara ( Michal ), Zakaria, Minamino ( Fati ) -– Akliouche, Balogun ( Biereth ), Golovin ( Caulibaly )
No comments:
Post a Comment