When the final whistle blew, Barcelona suffered a 1-2 defeat to the home team AS Monaco. The away team's players collapsed into disappointment, including Marc Casado, who played his best and left many impressions.
Barca started their Champions League opener in the most negative way, with Eric Garcia receiving a direct red card in the 10th minute. After that, although Lamine Yamal had an equalizer to 1-1, Blaugrana could not resist the pressure of the opponent when playing with one less player. The additional goal in the 71st minute made the Camp Nou team feel the pressure to play the play-off right after the first round.
This was the first defeat since the beginning of the season for captain Hansi Flick. In early August, also AS Monaco, Barca won against the Ligue-1 representative in the Joan Gamper Trophy.
In a match where all tactical plans were almost ruined due to having to play with one less player, Marc Casado emerged as the most positive point amid the chaos of the away team. Barca's midfield is currently very thin as a series of key players such as Marc Bernal, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi and Dani Olmo are injured.
Having to play 80 minutes with one less player is too difficult for Barcelona. When Garcia left the pitch, Pedri was forced to play lower to support the defense. In that adversity, Casado had many confident situations holding the ball to stab into the opponent's defense. Although it was only his first Champions League match in his career, Casado's confidence made him no different from a veteran in this playground.
Casado's good point in this match was his initiative, he often ran close to his teammates to ask for the ball, thereby acting as a bridge for further development. Not only that, if he felt pressured when Monaco pressed, Casado would use his technique to break the siege.
Casado's 65 touches throughout the match was Barcelona's best in this match. The 21-year-old's passing and confidence have helped Barca avoid falling behind too early. Casado himself assisted Lamine Yamal, who also had his first Champions League match in his career.
This is Casado's second assist in the last 2 matches. From the summer friendlies, Flick was made a strong impression on Casado. Since then, the German captain has had almost absolute confidence in this young star of La Masia. Flick always compares Marc Casado to Joshua Kimmich, one of the most versatile and handsome players in German football over the past 10 years.
Casado ended the match in Monaco with exercise. It could be due to a slight pain or simply exhaustion in a physical tourist when Barca had to play with 10 men. When his teammates helped Casado relax, Flick had to run into the pitch to see if his student was fine.
"The whole team today has contributed more than 100% of what they have, Casado is one of them. I am proud of the club and have to accept today's loss. We have 7 more matches in the first phase of the Champions League.
As for Casado, he just had a slight injury, everything is fine" - Flick shared after the match.
