Emmanuel LANGELLIER, Media365: published on Sunday January 5, 2025 at 12:43 p.m.
AS Monaco is playing its 8th Champions Trophy this Sunday against PSG. A look back at the previous 7.
While the 16th day of Ligue 1 takes place during this first weekend of the new year 2025, the championship calendar does not show the shock expected during this new episode. For a simple reason: it has already tied itself. On December 18, Luis Enrique's Paris-SG won at the Stade Louis-II on the field of Adi Hütter's AS Monaco (4-2). A match played earlier in anticipation of the Champions Trophy scheduled between the two teams this Sunday in Doha, Qatar (kick-off at 5:30 p.m.). The Parisian club will try to improve its record and win a 13th title in the specialty (the winner of the championship theoretically faces the winner of the Coupe de France, except when the same club obviously wins both competitions). For its part, Monaco won the title in 1997 and 2000, as well as in 1961 and 1985 when the old formula was called the “Challenge of Champions”. Since the first edition in 1955, the ASM has participated 7 times. He therefore displays 4 successes and 3 defeats.
Monaco won its first Champions Trophy in 1961… by draw
In 1960, the Principality club lost against a team that was far too strong: Reims of Raymond Kopa, Roger Piantoni, Jean Vincent, Robert Jonquet and Lucien Muller, crushing winner (6-2) at the Marcel-Saupin stadium in Nantes. Crowned champion of France the following season, Monaco won its first Champions Trophy… by draw. Penalties do not yet exist and this is how we decide between the ASM of Oscar Cobas and the Sedan of Zacharie Noah (Yannick's father) at the end of the match (1-1) at the Vélodrome from Marseille. 24 years later, Monaco, led by Jean-Luc Ettori, Manuel Amoros, Claude Puel and Daniel Bravo, did it again, this time getting the better of Bordeaux at the end of the fateful session, on December 18, 1985 at Parc Lescure ( 1-1, 8-7 on penalties). In 1997, the Rocher team triumphed again by correcting their neighbor Nice (5-2) in Béziers thanks to goals from Fabien Lefèvre, Japhet N'Doram (double), Victor Ikpeba and David Trezeguet.
Two last losses against Paris
Three years later, AS Monaco led by Claude Puel won again on penalties at the expense of Nantes (0-0, 6-5 on the tabs). Pontus Farnerud did not miss his attempt unlike Sylvain Armand and the French champion lifted the trophy into the sky of Sochaux in 2000. The Principality club lost its last two finals against… PSG. On July 29, 2017, the red and white French champions, blessed with a Radamel Falcao-Kylian Mbappé attack (who was then playing his penultimate match with Monaco before heading to Paris on August 31), lost (1-2 ) in Tangier on achievements by Dani Alves and Adrien Rabiot (after Djibril Sidibé's opener). Finally, in 2018 (August 4), Monaco lost heavily in Shenzhen (0-4) against PSG of Neymar, Marco Verratti, Thiago Silva, Gianluigi Buffon and Thomas Tuchel, newly appointed to the bench. Angel Di Maria (double), Christopher Nkunku and Timothy Weah shook Diego Benaglio's nets.
