Monaco in the Champions League, It gets better.
We’re back in with the big lads again, and this time they’re worth a few quid. Monaco is one of the smallest countries in the world. It’s also the most densely-populated and the richest. Imagine a place where every resident is a Premier League player and you’d come close. Its main industry is casinos, but they won’t let you scruffy ‘erberts in so don’t bother trying. You won’t get a beer either, because on matchdays the entire country is alcohol-free, which is quite impressive.
That’s the tourist information over. They’ve got a football team, who play in a ground the size of Bournemouth’s with a car park under the pitch. They won the French league a few times, got relegated, bought by a Russian oligarch and won the league again. This season they’re not too clever and their manager keeps well away from any windows above the second floor. We’d normally say something about their supporters but they haven’t got many. A lot of the time they struggle to half-fill the ground so it’s a mystery how this oligarch-owned, millionaire-supported club can be so successful.
We played Monaco in a friendly at Villa Park in 1988. Glenn Hoddle and Mark Hateley were playing for them and we had new signings David Platt and Gareth Williams in the team. The few thousand who bothered turning up saw Williams get the first in a 3-0 win and probably thought that Platt bloke was a waste of money.
We’re back on form even if the injuries are piling up again, just for a change. If we get the win here that’s the top eight more or less sorted bearing in mind we’re at home to the champions of one of Europe’s minnow leagues next. So, three points it is and back over the border to celebrate.
