Sporting CP v AS Monaco

Sporting CP v Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club
Estádio José Alvalade
July 25th, 2026
Troféu Cinco Violinos 

The warm up

The lions will face off against Ligue 1 side AS Monaco in the annual Troféu Cinco Violinos. Founded in 1924 they reside in the principality of Monaco and yet play their football in the top flight of French football. Nicknames Les Rouge et Blanc (The Red and Whites), Les Monégasques (The Monégasques) and Le Rocher (The Rock) they play at the Stade Louis II which has a capacity of just 16,360. 

They're majority owned by the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev (who is reported to be worth just the 6.7 billion dollars) who has 66.67% of the shares. The remainder are owned by the house of Grimaldi which is the reigning house of the Principality. Many clubs lay claim to being European Royalty, ASM to be fair are quite literally owned by European Royalty. The current head of the house is Albert II the son of Grace Kelly the former American actress who became the Princess of Monaco.

The principality is best known for being the home of the super-wealthy owing to there being no income tax due, well not unless you are a French national. Certainly non-French players are able to benefit from not paying income tax. Over 30% of those who reside there are said to be millionaires. Just shy of 40,000 people live in an area less than one square mile. It's the second smallest Sovereign state in the world after the Vatican City. One envisages that they won't bring a large contingent of away fans to Lisboa for this fixture. Had it been in the Algarve like the other summer fixtures, if they came by super yacht I'm not sure that the Port of Portimão could have coped. 

Despite being home to so many wealthy individuals, the club itself hasn't been immune from financial difficulties. In 2003 they finished runners up in Ligue 1 but owing to debts of €50 million they were initally relgated to Ligue 2, though that decision was latterly overturned on appeal and eventually they were hit with a transfer ban instead. Despite the financial turmoil the club reached the Champions League the following season and would finish in 3rd place in Ligue 1. 

Monaco were relegated at the end of the 2010/11 season and it was in December 2011 that Rybolovlev took up his stake in the club whilst the club were bottom of Ligue 2. Claudio Ranieri took the club back to Ligue 1 where the Russian billionaire flexed his financial muscles during the summer. James Rodríguez was signed from FC Porto for £40m, Radamel Falcao came from Atletico Madrid for £50m and in all they spent the best part of £140m on players and the club finished runners up in the 2013/14 season. If you've been following the summer series on the rise and fall of Bruno de Carvalho here this summer then you'll know where their next coach Leanardo Jardim came from and why. In the 2016/17 season the ex-Sporting mister led Monaco to the French title and a certain Kylian Mbappé was making waves as a youngster for the club. He would join PSG on loan initially before they paid the obligatory fee of €180m which remains the second highest ever transfer fee paid behind that which PSG paid Barcelona for Neymar. Notable players also sold in that period include Bernardo Silva. 

They are currently coached by the Belgian mister Sébastien Pocognoli. He took over from Adi Hütter who was sacked in October of last year. Their seventh place finish in Ligue 1 was enough to secure qualification for the Europa Conference League. Their record played 34, won 16, drawn 6, lost 12, GF 60, GA 54. Their biggest home with came 5-2 against Metz, whilst away they record 4-1 wins over both Paris FC and Rennes and a 5-4 win over the lions over pre-season opponents from Ligue 1 this summer RC Strasbourg. The club is currently home to ex-lion Eric Dier as well as Paul Pogba following his return from a ban following a failed drugs test. 

The two sides have met twice before. On September 17th, 1997 the lions won 3-0 at home with goals from Oceano, Hadji and Leandro. On November 27th, 1997 they lost 3-2 in the principality with goals from Costa Silva and a Leandro penalty. Notable names playing for Monaco that day included a certain Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet and Fabian Barthez.