Soccer Football - Champions League - AS Monaco v FC Barcelona - Stade Louis II, Monaco - September 19, 2024 AS Monaco's George Ilenikhena celebrates with the player of the match trophy and teammates after the match REUTERS/Manon Cruz
MONACO (Reuters) -Barcelona made a disappointing start to their Champions League campaign by losing 2-1 to AS Monaco on Thursday after suffering an early blow from defender Eric Garcia's dismissal.
Barcelona had a dreadful start at the Stade Louis II stadium when Garcia was shown a straight red card 11 minutes in for a foul on Monaco's Takumi Minamino, who was clear in front of goal after a misplaced pass from goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
"We didn't understand each other in that moment, I feel bad for Eric," Ter Stegen told Movistar Plus.
"We played 80 minutes with one less. It's a football thing. The defeat hurts, because with 10 men on the pitch we gave our all and tried to get a point."
The hosts grabbed the lead five minutes later when Maghnes Akliouche struck a low shot into the net, before Barcelona's Lamine Yamal equalised in the 28th minute by finishing from the edge of the penalty area.
It was the first Champions League goal for Yamal who became the second youngest scorer (17-years-old, 68 days) in the competition behind teammate Ansu Fati in 2019 (17-years-old, 40 days).
Monaco kept pushing and got their reward in the 71st minute when substitute George Ilenikhena fired past Ter Stegen to secure victory in their first main stage appearance in five years in Europe's elite club competition.
"The game changed completely (with the red card)," Barcelona manager Hansi Flick said.
"We tried all the time, we defended with passion. We made some mistakes, but we tried to score goals. We had a few chances, but they deserved to win.
"Now we have to come back stronger, recover for Sunday's game (at Villarreal in LaLiga). We have to give our best and fight for the team," the German coach added.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico CityEditing by Christian Radnedge)
