FC Barcelona lost the first game under Hansi Flick. On Thursday, the Catalans lost to AS Monaco 1:2 in the first round of the Champions League. In the 16th minute, Maghnes Akliouche scored for the hosts and although Lamine Yamal equalized before the break, George Ilenikhena scored the decisive goal in the second half.
The most important thing in this match, however, happened in the 10th minute. It was then that Marc-Andre ter Stegen made a bad pass to Eric Garcia. A Monaco player jumped out from behind the Spaniard, and Garcia, wanting to make up for his teammate's mistake, fouled his opponent.
Garcia was sent off for the foul, making things difficult for Barcelona. But that wasn't ter Stegen's only mistake in the match. Canal+ commentators noted that the German went down on the pitch far too early for the hosts' second goal.
Ter Stegen commented on Barcelona's defeat
Right after match ter Stegen stood in front of the Movistar camera, where he explained what happened in the 10th minute. “I didn't understand Eric. I feel sorry for him because I know that this situation affected him. It shouldn't have happened to us, but that's football,” said the German.
– Despite this, we managed to get back on our feet, we wanted to get at least a point. Ultimately, however, we lost by one goal and we don't feel good about it. We tried to close the zones and defended really well for a long time, not allowing our opponents to do much – he added.
– Our goal was to win and we have to win as soon as possible. We will want to make up for the losses in the next round. For now, however, we are focusing on the league match with Villarreal – concluded ter Stegen.
In the next rounds of the Champions League, Barcelona will play against Young Boys, Bayern MunichBrest, Borussia Dortmund, Benfica and Atalanta. Game against the Swiss on October 1 at 9:00 p.m. in Barcelona.