Monaco hosted Strasbourg this past Saturday in Ligue 1 action. Only five points currently separate Ligue 1’s 15th placed St.Etienne from fourth-placed Montpellier. As a result, the battle in the middle of the Ligue 1 table for European qualification spots is currently being hotly contested. 

Two teams involved in that mid-table battle are Monaco and Strasbourg. Strasbourg went into Saturday’s game trailing Monaco by two points. However, they came out of Saturday’s game with an impressive 3-1 victory. This now lifts them above Monaco and into eighth place in Ligue 1. 

Saturday’s game provided new Monaco head coach Robert Moreno with his second straight Ligue 1 loss, following his side’s 4-1 defeat at the hands of PSG 10 days prior. This tactical analysis piece will examine Moreno and Monaco’s unsuccessful tactics in this game. Furthermore, we will analyse how Strasbourg manager Thierry Laurey got his side’s tactics spot-on and played a major role in their impressive win. 

Lineups and formations

Monaco generally lined up in a 4-4-1-1 shape throughout this game. This has been a relatively common shape for Moreno’s Monaco during the early days of his managerial tenure thus far. 

Personnel-wise, there weren’t many surprises in Monaco’s starting 11 here. However, Gil Dias enjoyed his first Ligue 1 appearance under Moreno in Saturday’s game. He took the place of Keita Baldé Diao, who was absent for this fixture.