Monaco, the first L1 team to resume training, won its first warm-up match against Belgian club Cercle Bruges 1-0 (half-time 1-0) on Saturday. The Monegasques, who resumed training at the start of the week, won on a goal from Anthony Musaba (18th) who returned from a loan in the Dutch Championship in the jersey of Heerenveen and who had passed the 2020-21 season on loan at Bruges. “I’m very happy with the way the players came back“, analyzed the Belgian coach Philippe Clement.
«We have already seen a good intensity. We will carry out a heavy preparation and go up step by step in order to be quickly ready to start with a sprint with the qualifications for the Champions League“, he added. The entire staff of the club, including its president and main shareholder, the Russian billionaire Dmitri Rybolovlev, attended this disputed meeting at the La Turbie training center.
Jean-Emmanuel De Witt and Paul Mitchell present
Rybolovlev was accompanied by his daughter, Ekaterina Rybolovleva, a member of the club’s board of directors, and his son-in-law, the Uruguayan Juan Sartori, also a member of the board of directors and vice-president of the club. Monaco’s new chief executive, Jean-Emmanuel De Witt, and England sporting director, Paul Mitchell, were also present.
«Everyone has been together since last season and on transfers“, appreciated Clement at the end of the meeting. Before leaving for an internship in Faro (Portugal) from July 4 to 9, the team will face Saint-Gall (1st Swiss division) on Wednesday morning. Monaco will start its season on August 2 or 3 in the third preliminary round of the Champions League.
