Monaco made a giant step towards the Champions League group stages with a 2-1 triumph at El Madrigal, and they now hope to finish the job in the return leg.

Villarreal, on the other hand, are in a difficult situation, but they can still be trusted to put up a good fight and attempt to overturn the one-goal deficit.

It was Valencia that prevented Monaco from reaching the Champions League group phase last term, and, oddly enough, the Principality club were this time pitted against their neighbours Villarreal.

But, with their opponents missing quite a few important players, the French side were able to record a 2-1 triumph in Spain that gives them a great opportunity to qualify for the next stage.

Even with Leonardo Jardim resting no fewer than eight starters in weekend’s clash with Nantes, Monaco did well to record a 1-0 away win, thus further improving the atmosphere in the squad.

The Principality club are now priced at 2.40 (7/5) to win the return match as well, but they will have to take the game very seriously if they want to eliminate Villarreal.

Full-back Benjamin Mendy is suspended after he was sent off at El Madrigal, while Djibril Sidibe is almost certain to miss out through injury.

This means that Fabinho will start on the left hand side, and Joao Moutinho will take his place in the middle of the park. Radamel Falcao remains on the sidelines.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Subasic – Raggi, Glik, Jemerson, Fabinho – Moutinho, Bagayoko – Dirar, Bernardo Silva, Lemar – Germain.

The Champions League clash against Monaco came at a very bad time for Villarreal, who have seen several key men pick up injuries near the end of pre-season.

As a result, new coach Fran Escriba was forced to field a severely weakened side that could not avoid defeat in the first leg.

The bad news is that the situation hasn’t improved a great deal since Wednesday, with only Victor Ruiz now available after missing the first leg through suspension.

On top of that, captain Bruno Soriano is rated doubtful through a back problem, but he will probably play through the pain at Stade Louis II.

Jonathan Dos Santos, Roberto Soldado, Daniele Bonera, Jaume Costa, Denis Cheryshev, Cedric Bakambu and Roberto Soldado are all out injured.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Asenjo – Mario, Musacchio, Ruiz, Angel – Samu, Trigueros, Bruno, Soriano – Borre, Pato.