Monaco 2-1 Barcelona Stats: Yamal’s Landmark Goal Not Enough for 10-Man Barca

Lamine Yamal scored his first UEFA Champions League goal but was still on the end of a defeat. Re-live an entertaining game with the best facts and Opta data in our Monaco vs Barcelona stats page.

Lamine Yamal became the second-youngest goalscorer in UEFA Champions League history but was unable to prevent Barcelona falling to a 2-1 defeat away to Monaco on Thursday.

Barcelona saw Eric García sent off in the 10th minute, their earliest red card ever in the competition, and they were fighting an uphill battle from that point.

Maghnes Akliouche put Monaco ahead not long after, rifling home after a purposeful run into the box, though Barca did hit back against the run of play; Yamal (17 years, 68 days old) slammed into the bottom-right corner from 20 yards to open his account in the Champions League exactly a year to the day since his competition debut.

But Monaco were the superior force and deservedly took the three points in the second half, George Ilenikhena holding his nerve before firing beyond Marc-André ter Stegen in the 71st minute.

That made him Monaco’s youngest ever UCL goalscorer (18y, 34d), breaking Kylian Mbappé’s (18y, 63d) record, and ensured the Ligue 1 side began their campaign in victorious fashion.

This was also a first defeat for new Barcelona coach Hansi Flick, who’d been hoping to become the first boss to win his first six games in charge of the club since 1960.

Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Monaco vs Barcelona stats from their Champions League meeting at Stade Louis II.

The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own post-match analysis.

Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well. 

Monaco vs Barcelona: Post-Match Facts

• Only Ansu Fati for Barcelona against Internazionale in December 2019 (17y 40d) has scored at a younger age in the history of the Champions League than Lamine Yamal (17y 68d).
• Monaco have ended a run of 14 successive UEFA Champions League games without a win (D3 L11) with their first win on MD1 of a campaign since 2016-17 against Tottenham (2-1).
• This was just Barcelona’s third ever defeat in their opening game of a UFA Champions League campaign after 1997-98 (2-3 v Newcastle United) and 2021-22 (0-3 v FC Bayern Munich).
• At 18y 34d, George Ilenikhena is Monaco’s youngest ever score in the UEFA Champions League, while he’s the first player in the competition’s history to score against the same side in successive games but for different teams, having previously scored for Royal Antwerp in December 2023.
• Monaco’s Maghnes Akilouche (22y 207d) is the youngest Frenchman to score on their UEFA Champions League debut since Georginio Rutter for Rennes against Sevilla in December 2020 (18y 232d).
• Eric García’s red card for Barcelona (10th minute) is the earliest in the UEFA Champions League since Kucher for Shakhtar Donetsk v FC Bayern Munich in March 2015 (3rd minute).
• Lamine Yamal made his 11th appearance for Barcelona in the Champions League, the most ever by a player aged 17 or under in the competition’s history.
• Barcelona’s starting XI contained five players aged 21 and under (Yamal, Pau Cubarsí, Alejandro Balde, Marc Casadó and Pedri), their most in a Champions League game since December 2012 against Benfica (6).

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