Presentation of the Monaco vs. Aston Villa match… news of the two teams, tickets and expectations

The 2024/25 Champions League stage is entering its decisive stages, as Aston Villa travels to the south of France to face Monaco.

The two teams are tied on points, with Monaco in eighth place and their English counterpart in ninth place, meaning that both will be looking for maximum points to finish the league stage on a high.

This match will be the first ever competitive meeting between these two sides, so they will enter it with faith and confidence in victory.

Adi Hutter guided Monaco to second place in his first season as the Principality side qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 2018/19.

Monaco have made a strong start to the season as they go 11 games unbeaten, including a thrilling 2-1 win over Barcelona in the first round of the Champions League.

While they remain second in the French Premier League, seven points behind Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco also sit eighth in the Champions League with ten points, despite their loss to… 3-2 against Benfica.

In fact, they will want to keep Villa in the play-off places as they hold the automatic last-16 spot by virtue of goals scored.

The importance of retaining their position in the top eight cannot be stressed enough, as it will maintain the feel-good factor and avoid two additional qualifying matches in order to reach the knockout stages.

Unai Emery’s side, on the other hand, enjoyed an impressive 2023/24 campaign as they upset the normal top six and secured Champions League qualification by finishing in the top four.

Their first season in the Champions League since 1982/83 was welcomed by Aston Villa fans, as they made an impressive start to the season with John Doran scoring the winning goal in the second half in three of their first four matches.

There was also a great start on the continent with a crucial 3-0 win over Young Boys on the opening day, followed by a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in a replay of the victorious 1982 European Cup final.

This win on the return to Villa Park for a Champions League clash has increased their already soaring confidence and acted as a warning signal to their domestic and European rivals. Things continued smoothly until the run of bad results began with a heavy 4-1 defeat against Tottenham, then they lost to Club Brugge and Liverpool before the international break in November.

Now, the Lions are on an eight-match winless streak in all competitions following the 3-0 defeat to Chelsea and must stop this routine before it continues to derail a promising season.

They are now 12th in the Premier League, four points behind already fourth-placed Brighton, and outside the automatic qualification places for the Champions League last 16. There is still a chance to turn the results around before it is too late, and this match against Monaco is a great opportunity to return to the top eight.

Given the manager and the quality at their disposal, Aston Villa will fancy themselves returning to winning ways.

Regardless of the dip in their results, they should eventually advance to the knockout round and still be strong enough to upset the best teams across Europe.

They must secure a positive result on this arduous trip to Monaco and Emery’s team will be confident of doing a decent job, provided they can field a decent enough team.

Match tickets

The Champions League seventh round match will take place on Tuesday 21 January 2025 and the match is scheduled to kick off at 5:45pm UK time.

This match is expected to be an unforgettable occasion, as match tickets are now available for sale on each club’s website, and priority will be given to club members and season ticket holders.

This match, which will be held in the Fontville area of ​​Monaco, will have a suitably continental flavour.

The 16,000-seat Louis II Stadium is an iconic football venue, and fans of both teams will be sure to turn up the volume levels.

With limited seating available, this match is expected to sell out quickly, so traveling fans are advised to find a spot Monaco vs Aston Villa tickets On the resale site. There, match fans can also book Aston Villa tickets For the entire season.

News of the two teams

Crepin Diatta is said to be recovering after a few weeks from a muscle injury, but there is hope he will be fit for this match while Idan Diop remains injured for Monaco.
While Jacob Ramsey, Matty Cash, Amado Onana and Emi Martinez are Villa’s victims at the time of writing.

Formations

Hutter has struck a strong balance with a Monaco side that is formed in a 4-2-3-1 system that will be disciplined and lethal in attack.

They will be able to match Villa’s physicality in the middle of the pitch, and it remains up to the forward line to be decisive enough to hurt the English side.
Monaco: Magici; Van Anderson, Kehrer, Salisu, Ouattara; Zechariah, Magasa; Akliucci, Minamino, Golovin; Balogun

Emery has brought together a strong tactical setup at Aston Villa that makes them difficult to beat and a threat against any opponent.

Their 4-2-3-1 system is fluid, with match-changing options to remove players from the bench as well as a wide range of tactical adjustments.
Aston Villa: Martinez; Consa, Carlos, Torres, Denny; Telemans, Onana; McGinn, Ramsey, Rogers; Watkins

Expectations

The visitors will be a very difficult opponent for Monaco who will take this as a good test against a team with similar goals in the Champions League this season.
As it will likely determine who advances directly to the round of 16 and who has to go through a play-off round, it will be a very competitive match.

There should be a bit between them, and the first goal will likely set the tone for this match. An interesting match awaits us, but Villa should excel in it.

Monaco 1-2 Aston Villa