“That’s the key” – Monaco boss talks about the defense of Lewandowski, Raphinha and Lamine Yamal

Monaco coach Adi Hütter has told his team to “give everything” in their defence against Barcelona in the Champions League on Thursday.

Hansi Flick takes his team to France after a perfect start to the new La Liga season and Hütter says his players must be brave.

“It’s not easy to defend against them. We have to pull together as a team and all row in the same direction,” he told reporters.

“The team must be very brave and give everything because we not only have to take Lamine Yamal out of the game, but also Raphinha, Lewandowski and Ferran Torres.

“That’s the key. We know exactly what quality a young player like Lamine Yamal has, but the key is to defend well against every single Barça player, not just Lamine Yamal. Tomorrow we’ll see how we do.

Hutter also urged his team to forget the 3-0 win against Barcelona in the Gamper Trophy in the summer and praised his counterpart for the impression he has already made in Catalonia.

“Barça are very aggressive both in attack and in defence. I have great respect for Hansi’s performance. We cannot compare him with who he was six weeks ago and he is already showing that in the league,” he added.

“We can’t use this game as a reference because since then they have won five out of five games with 17 goals on their side, more than three goals per game, which is a lot.

“We know they have several injured players, but they are in top form and I see that Hansi Flick is making great progress in the way he plays with his teams.

“I really appreciate his work, but we still believe in ourselves because we also had a great start to the season.”

Monaco also started the season well, but has had a poor home record in the Champions League recently, losing their last seven games in a row at the Stade Louis II.