Monaco's New Era Begins: Filipe Luís Faces Le Havre Challenge
AS Monaco’s season starts on the road and under a new voice on the touchline.
Filipe Luís takes charge of his first Ligue 1 match as Monaco manager with a tricky opener away at Le Havre AC, just days after his team were dragged through a demanding European night. On Thursday, the Principality club edged Górnik Zabrze 3-2 in the first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League playoff, a win that came with both goals and warning signs.
Now comes the domestic test, and Luís will have to improvise.
Luís already juggling absences
The Brazilian coach heads into his second competitive game with a squad stripped of several key options. Christian Mawissa is suspended. Jordan Teze, Ansu Fati and new signing Mattias Abline are all sidelined through injury. On top of that, Takumi Minamino and Folarin Balogun have been left out of the matchday group, rested after Thursday’s European exertions.
It’s an early stress test for a new regime. Rotation isn’t a luxury here; it’s a necessity.
The absences open the door for some of Monaco’s newer faces to step into the spotlight. Manchester City loanee Mathys Detourbet is expected to keep his place and make a second consecutive start after featuring in the Conference League. The same goes for centre-back Sadibou Sané, who arrived from Metz this summer and is being asked to settle quickly at the heart of the defence.
On the left, Flávio Nazinho is set for his first competitive start in Monaco colours. The full-back, signed from Cercle Brugge, will be thrown straight into Ligue 1 action, tasked with providing energy on the flank while bedding into a back line still learning each other’s movements.
A new-look XI taking shape
With so many regulars missing, Monaco’s likely lineup at Le Havre has a distinctly fresh feel. As reported by L’Équipe, Luís is expected to go with:
- Lukas Hradecky;
- Flávio Nazinho, Eric Dier, Sadibou Sané, Vanderson;
- Mathys Detourbet, Lamine Camara, Denis Zakaria, Mamadou Coulibaly;
- Mika Biereth, Aleksandr Golovin.
Experience and youth, loanees and summer arrivals, all stitched together in August and already under pressure to deliver.
The spine looks solid on paper: Hradecky’s authority in goal, Dier’s know-how at the back, Zakaria’s steel in midfield, Golovin’s craft higher up. Around them, the newer names will have to run, cover, and adapt fast. There is little margin for hesitation in a league that punishes slow starts.
Monaco have already been forced to reveal more of their hand than a new coach would like this early. Now the question is simple: can this patched-together side turn a European win into the first Ligue 1 statement of the Filipe Luís era?
