Captain Radamel Falcao leads Monaco in fight for second...
Monaco captain Radamel Falcao accepts the Ligue 1 title is out of reach and is focused on beating Lyon on Sunday to boost his side’s push for second place.
Paris St Germain lead the standings by eight points from nearest challengers Marseille, with OL and Monaco 11 and 12 behind respectively.
A repeat performance for last season’s champions therefore appears out of the question and Falcao has set his sights on being the best of the rest.
Radamel Falcao ended his scoring drought against Montpellier (Mike Egerton/EMPICS)
“This type of match gives all players real motivation,” he told the club’s website.
“Lyon are having a great season. We are battling for second place with them and Marseille. It’s a real source of motivation for all of us.
“All three teams will fight to the finish. We’ll need to battle to the end.”
Falcao has scored 16 goals in 19 league games this season, but 11 of those came by September 22.
He ended a stretch of only one goal since the winter break with a midweek Coupe de la Ligue double against Montpellier and insists he never lost faith.
“The strikers can’t score in every game,” he said.
“I’ve have periods like this many times in my career. With my experience, I’m calm.
“I know the goal will come along. It’s hard to keep up the same stats all season long.”
The teams have met twice already this season, Nabil Fekir’s last-minute goal giving Lyon a 3-2 win in October before they triumphed by the same scoreline in the Coupe de France last month.
Coach Bruno Genesio told his club’s website: “We are capable of beating them. We’ve already done it twice, but it doesn’t give us a psychological edge.
“We’ve dropped too many points against poorly ranked teams, especially on the road, but we usually come up big in important matches.”
Genesio admits midfielder Lucas Tousart’s suspension will mean a slight tactical reshuffle but he has an otherwise full-strength squad at his disposal, albeit with Maxwel Cornet nursing a slight calf problem.
Monaco, by contrast, have Thomas Lemar, Rachid Ghezzal, Adama Diakhaby, Adama Traore and Diego Benaglio suffering from injuries, while Djibril Sidibe is ill.