Monaco have started the French season with the lights still on and the pressure rising around them. A demanding early run has not slowed Filipe Luis’s side, who sit first in Ligue 1 and remain unbeaten after seven competitive matches.
Key takeaways
- AS Monaco have recorded six wins and one draw in all competitions under Filipe Luis.
- The Principality club lead Ligue 1 after five rounds, despite facing Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain, Strasbourg and Lens early on.
- Monaco’s stated target is direct qualification for the Champions League, meaning a top-three finish.
- Filipe Luis has made the strongest seven-game start of any Monaco manager.
- Monaco are among nine unbeaten clubs left across Europe’s five major leagues.
Filipe Luis keeps Monaco’s ambitions measured
Only a controversial draw at Strasbourg has prevented Monaco from opening the campaign with a perfect record. Their response to a difficult fixture list has put them top of the table, but Filipe Luis has refused to frame the season as a title duel with PSG.
“We are not thinking about that,” the Brazilian coach said when asked whether Monaco could trouble Paris in the championship race. “It is not realistic. We know the club’s reality. I am ambitious, very ambitious, but we have to take it one match at a time.”
Filipe Luis pointed to PSG’s status after winning the past two Champions League titles. In his view, Paris have been more than France’s dominant team over the previous two seasons: “They are the best team in the world.”
Thiago Scuro, Monaco’s general director, has set a more concrete objective: automatic qualification for the Champions League. That would require a place in the top three, with anything beyond it a bonus.
The early returns have made the coach’s arrival look increasingly convincing. Filipe Luis joined Monaco in the summer after a first managerial spell at Flamengo, following a long playing career, and his six victories plus one draw represent the best opening seven-match record for a Monaco head coach. Claudio Ranieri, Didier Deschamps, Leonardo Jardim and Arsène Wenger all fall behind that mark.
Former Monaco figures see a more complete team
Sébastien Squillaci initially had doubts about the appointment. The former Monaco defender, a Champions League finalist with the club in 2004, questioned whether Filipe Luis could immediately adapt without previous experience of Ligue 1 or its wider environment.
Those reservations have faded quickly. Squillaci said he now enjoys what he sees, praising a side in which every player is working for the collective. He described Monaco’s opening weeks as a pleasant surprise.
Valère Germain, who returned to live in Monaco after retirement and was part of the club’s 2017 title-winning squad, has heard equally positive reports about the new manager. He described Filipe Luis as simple, humble and kind, adding that his football knowledge and experience should help the project succeed.
Germain believes Monaco look confident in attack and more secure without the ball than in recent campaigns. Squillaci has also detected greater tactical control. He said previous Monaco teams could leave vast spaces behind an aggressive press, whereas the current side have been less exposed.
Both men also see the warning signs in the club’s recent history. Monaco were first in Ligue 1 after five matchdays in each of the previous three seasons, but those campaigns ended in second place in 2023-24, third in 2024-25 and seventh in 2025-26. Squillaci stressed that consistency at the highest level has been missing and remains essential.
Captain Denis Zakaria struck a similarly cautious note after Monaco’s 2-1 victory over Lens, saying the team had made a very good start but that the season was only beginning. Forward Matthis Abline said before the international break that the squad, coaching staff and manager were all hungry to fight until the end and go as far as possible.
Monaco have significant resources to sustain that ambition. Their squad is valued at €377 million, second only to PSG’s €1.36 billion in Ligue 1, despite the club bringing in more than €100 million through player sales across the past two summer transfer windows.
Still, the gap to Paris remains central to the discussion. Squillaci believes PSG are in a different category and warned that, once they fully hit their stride, they could disappear from the rest of the field. He is also wary of Monaco’s approaching Conference League schedule and the difficult away trips it will bring.
Germain is prepared to hold on to a little hope. If there is a French side equipped to make life difficult for PSG, he believes Monaco have the strongest case.
