Ansu Fati played his first 27 official minutes with AS Monaco on Thursday in the Principality team's Champions League debut. The winger loaned by FC Barcelona had a complex preseason under the orders of coach Adi Hütter and, after being left out of the squad in the first four matchdays of Ligue 1, he was finally able to debut in the visit to Brugge (4-1).

The player from Bisau entered in the 63rd minute for Folarin Balogun and, towards the end, scored the only goal for the French team. In the first minute of added time, the 22-year-old received a pass from Minamino inside the area and, with his left foot, shot the goalkeeper Mignolet to celebrate his first official goal since November 9, 2023, with Brighton against Ajax.

Fourth goal for Ansu Fati in the UEFA Champions League

For Fati, this was his fourth goal in 22 appearances in the Champions League (he scored 3 in 21 games with Barça) and the first in the tournament since 21/22, in the 0-1 victory against Dynamo Kyiv in November 2021. 

In the 27 minutes he played against Brugge, the youth player from Barcelona only missed one pass out of 12 possible, completing a couple of shots on goal and a clearance. Although he did not win individual duels, he looked good physically and hopes to settle, finally, in the Monaco squad.

"He has done an excellent rehabilitation job, I see him improving every day in training. So it is too early to talk about being a starter, but it will happen in the next few weeks," explained coach Hütter about Ansu. Will 25/26 be the season of Fati's definitive redemption?

Tough defeat for Monaco in their Champions League debut

The truth is that, for Monaco, the Champions League started in the worst way. The Gauls were outplayed and thrashed by Brugge in Belgium (4-1), in a match that went to halftime with a 3-0 partial score for the locals.

Brugge opened the scoring in the 32nd minute with a goal from Tresoldi and, in the 39th minute, extended the lead with another goal from Onyedika. Three minutes later, Vanaken finished the game with another goal. The fourth goal would come in the 75th minute through Diakhon, while Ansu scored in the 90+1 minute.

In the second matchday, Monaco hosts Manchester City, while Brugge will visit Atalanta. In Ligue 1, Adio Hütter's team has 9 points out of 12 possible, after adding three victories and one defeat.