“The challenge we have in the medium term is that the club competes in the Champions League every year”

Four days after celebrating its centenary with a victory against Montpellier (2-1), which allows it to occupy 2nd place in the French championship behind Paris Saint-Germain, AS Monaco (ASM) returns to the Ligue des champions (C1), Wednesday October 2, with a trip to Dinamo Zagreb. A second success, after the prestigious one acquired against FC Barcelona (2-1), would bring the club closer to qualifying for the next round.

The priority remains Ligue 1, according to Thiago Scuro. The Brazilian general director of ASM, who arrived on the Rock in July 2023, refuses to still talk about the quest for the title, but wants to ensure that his club qualifies every year for the C1, a competition that it had not most contested since 2018.

ASM is 2nd in Ligue 1 and got off to a good start in the Champions League. Are you fully satisfied with the start of the season?

Yes, we are. Since the start of preseason, we had one major concern: not letting the Champions League be a distraction from our main goal, which is the championship. With the return of the C1, the draw for the competition, the centenary of the club, there was obviously a lot of excitement. But we have sent the message internally that the priority is to finish among the top three in Ligue 1. The club has lacked consistency in recent seasons, and the challenge we have in the medium term is that ASM competes in the Champions League every year.

Focusing primarily on Ligue 1 did not prevent you from beating FC Barcelona in C1…

It was very special, a moment that we will remember for the rest of our lives. We sold out all the tickets for that match in six minutes. When you have a whole stadium behind the team, it’s easier. For the players, it means a lot to be able to play in the Champions League. And if the objective is Ligue 1, we obviously want to take advantage of this competition to show what we can do. We hope to see more evenings like this.

ASM will play four affordable matches in the Champions League – Dinamo Zagreb, Red Star Belgrade, Bologna and Benfica. Can you aim for the top eight places in the “league” stage, the first phase of the competition?

These will not be easy matches, some of these opponents will play at home, in front of their supporters. We had to fight against Barcelona and we will have to do the same afterwards, with the same intensity. We think we are capable of qualifying for the play-offs [qui verront s’affronter les équipes qui ont terminé entre la 9ᵉ et la 24ᵉ place, sur 36]. When I say that the priority is Ligue 1, that does not mean that we do not have ambition for the C1. But we see this as an opportunity. If we qualify for the play-offs, we will then see what we can do there.

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