On Thursday, 19 September, Monaco will play at home against Barcelona. This is a meeting of the first round of the general stage of the Champions League. The Catalans are relegated on the back of perfect results in La Liga.

Barcelona has already changed significantly under the leadership of Hans-Dieter Flick. The coach uses a rather unexpected combination in attack. Rafinha has blossomed under the new coach, although earlier the Brazilian was virtually written off. Lamine Yamal is becoming one of the main stars of European football. The midfielder scored seven points for effective actions in five matches.

It is interesting that Flick achieves results using several juniors. Pau Kubarsi has already established himself in the starting line-up, and Mark Casado is not lost in the centre of the pitch. Rotation remains one of the main difficulties for the coach. It will be very hard to play on two fronts. Now Barcelona officially have Gavi, Ronald Araujo, Fermin Lopez, Andres Christensen and a fresh addition, Dani Olmo, in the infirmary. The newcomer is out until at least October. Again we will have to go for radical experiments.

Monaco can also be quite happy with their start in Ligue 1. The team won three matches out of four, and the only draw was against tough Lance. The Monegasques have a solid defence - only one goal conceded. A big help is the return of Aleksandr Golovin. In the last match against Saint-Etienne, the Russian acted in conjunction with two talents Akliusz and Ben-Segir. In attack, the experienced Swiss Brill Embolo took over.

If we take the xG table in France, Monaco is just behind only Lance. The team possessed the initiative more time in the matches held. The opponents for four games of cumulative efforts did not create even three clear goal-scoring chances.

Monaco has quite a good clip of players. In the last match, Folarin Balogun and Takumi Minamino - not the last people in European football - came on as substitutes.

Monaco can give Barcelona a fight. This is a good test for the coach of the hosts Adolf Hüttler. The Austrian straightened Monaco out last season, got the club back into the Champions League and delivered attractive football.

The odds on the home team will go up - you can safely take advantage of that. Barcelona have more risks because of the gruelling calendar. An away draw is a decent option for the Catalans, given the tournament strategy. Monaco's defence deserves respect based on statistics. A rout this time around is unlikely. Most likely, the hosts will be able to impose a tight game.