Two clubs chasing UEFA Champions League glory will do battle today in a match between AS Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen. The group-stage match scheduled for 2:45 p.m. ET will be held at the Stade Louis II and can be live streamed here free.
Bayer Leverkusen manager Roger Schmidt had this to offer ahead of today's European encounter (via UEFA): "We are confident and the players know it. We have analyzed Monaco, and they a good team. They have not played in Europe for a while, but they are not underdogs tomorrow. It is only early in the season. League rankings do not mean anything. Monaco have a lot of quality and the Champions League is a different competition. We cannot look at their league results."
"Dimitar Berbatov is a great player who had a fine career in Leverkusen," he added. "He is clinical in front of the goal, so we will have to be careful. He had a great career in Leverkusen and brought a lot to the club. I have always liked him."
"We had big tests already in the league and in the playoffs, so we were able to apply our new style and we succeeded. [This] is not our first big test."
Tactical Preview
Player to Watch: AS Monaco's Lucas Ocampos is another attacking threat Schmidt must concern himself with. The 20-year-old has one goal and an average of 0.8 key passes per match this season.
AS Monaco's Projected Lineup (4-3-3): Subasic; Kurzawa, Carvalho, Raggi, Fabinho; Moutinho, Kondogbia, Toulalan; Ocampos, Berbatov, Carrasco
Bayer Leverkusen's Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Leno; Boenisch, Spahic, Toprak, Jedvaj; Castro, Bender; Son, Cal Hanoglu, Bellarabi; Kiessling
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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