Monaco know it will be difficult to qualify now, says Sidibe

Posted Wednesday, October 18, 2017 by fourfourtwo.com

Monaco may struggle to make it to the knockout stages of the Champions League after defeat to Besiktas, according to Djibril Sidibe.

Monaco defender Djibril Sidibe says his side know it will be difficult to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League after a home defeat to Besiktas.

The French champions are bottom of Group G with just a single point from three games, after going down 2-1 at the Stade Louis II on Tuesday.

Radamel Falcao opened the scoring for the hosts, but two goals from Cenk Tosun gave Besiktas victory and Sidibe admitted his side had not been good enough.

"We lacked a lot of ingredients in tonight's game and when you play at this level you cannot afford that," he said, via UEFA.

"What's happened has happened and we need to move on and focus on what we do well. We'll talk about this amongst ourselves.

"We need to perform better on an individual and a collective level. We need to be more aggressive and play at greater speed. As long as there's still a chance of qualifying we'll keep believing in our chances. We know it will be difficult though."

Besiktas, meanwhile, are in a commanding position after three wins from three games and match-winner Tosun said his team's margin of victory could have been even bigger.

"Today the whole team performed really well. We were all concentrated 100 per cent," he said.

"We started well but conceded the goal in their first chance. We then levelled and at half-time the coach told us what we should do. We scored again and could have scored even more."

Meanwhile, Besiktas coach Senol Gunes felt his team would have been happy with a draw, and is refusing to take qualification for granted.

"I believe we have won tonight, thanks to our talented players, who know how to play together very well," he said.

"Monaco are a good side with young, talented players, but we have controlled the game with our experience.

"This was a good day for us. We thought we would be happy with a draw but we are returning with three points. Our chances have increased, but nothing is guaranteed. But surely we are in the best position of all four sides right now."