September 13, 2016 - Champions League Group StageMonaco vs Tottenham Hotspur
European football.
The Champions League anthem echoed through Stade Louis II. The lights. The atmosphere. The prestige.
Ethan stood in the center circle, waiting for kickoff, and felt the weight of history. This competition had crowned legends—Messi, Ronaldo, Zidane, Henry. Now it was his turn to write his chapter.
Tottenham came to defend. Mauricio Pochettino's system was organized, compact, disciplined. They pressed intelligently and transitioned quickly.
For sixty-three minutes, the score remained 0-0. Monaco dominated possession but couldn't break through.
Then Jardim made a tactical adjustment—pushing Ethan wider, letting him drift into spaces between Tottenham's midfield and defense.
In the sixty-seventh minute, it worked.
Ethan received the ball on the left, cutting inside. He saw Mbappé making a run behind Tottenham's high line. Saw the space opening. Calculated the weight needed.
He played a perfectly weighted through ball—forty meters, cutting through three lines of defense. Mbappé controlled with one touch and finished with the second.
1-0.
In the eighty-fourth minute, Ethan scored himself.
A corner kick. Chaos in the box. The ball fell to him at the edge of the six-yard box. He struck it first-time, low and hard. The goalkeeper got a hand to it but couldn't keep it out.
2-0.
Monaco won. Ethan's first Champions League goal at seventeen years old.
September 27 - Champions League Matchday 2Bayer Leverkusen vs Monaco
The BayArena was hostile. Thirty thousand German fans creating a wall of noise.
Leverkusen started aggressively, pressing high, winning duels. They scored first—a deflected shot in the eighteenth minute.
1-0 down.
But Monaco didn't panic. Jardim's philosophy was clear: keep playing, keep attacking, trust the process.
In the thirty-ninth minute, Ethan equalized.
Receiving a pass from Moutinho, he controlled with his back to goal. The defender pressed immediately. Ethan executed a perfect roulette turn—spinning away, emerging with space—and struck from twenty meters.
The ball curled into the top corner. Unstoppable.
1-1.
In the sixty-second minute, Mbappé scored.
In the seventy-eighth minute, Bernardo Silva made it 3-1.
Final score: Leverkusen 1, Monaco 3.
The Princes had conquered Germany.
October 18 - Champions League Matchday 3Monaco vs Leverkusen
The return fixture at Stade Louis II was a massacre.
Monaco attacked from the first whistle. Ethan scored in the ninth minute—a header from a corner. Mbappé scored in the twenty-third—a solo run from halfway. Lemar made it 3-0 before halftime.
In the second half, Ethan completed his brace with a clinical finish after a counter-attack. Final score: 4-0.
Two Champions League goals. Three in total. At seventeen.
November 2 - Champions League Matchday 4Tottenham vs Monaco
White Hart Lane. One of English football's historic stadiums in its final season.
Sixty thousand fans. Incredible atmosphere. Tottenham's best players—Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen—all starting.
The match was intense, physical, high-quality. Tottenham scored first through Kane. Monaco equalized through Falcao. Tottenham went ahead again. Monaco equalized again through Bernardo Silva.
2-2 at halftime.
In the sixty-eighth minute, Ethan produced magic.
Receiving the ball on the edge of the box, surrounded by three defenders, he executed a triple elastico—left, right, left—leaving all three sprawling. Then he curled a shot with the outside of his right foot into the far corner.
White Hart Lane fell silent. Even the home fans applauded. That was world-class technique.
3-2 Monaco.
They held on. Champions League away win at one of England's biggest clubs.
November 22 - Champions League Matchday 5Monaco vs CSKA Moscow
By now, Monaco had qualified for the knockout rounds. The pressure was off. Jardim rotated the squad, giving younger players opportunities.
But Ethan and Mbappé both started. They were too important to rest completely.
CSKA parked the bus—eleven men behind the ball, making the pitch small.
Monaco dominated possession: 73%. Shots: 27 to 4. But the score remained 0-0 until the seventy-fourth minute.
Then Ethan dropped deep, received the ball, and played a pass that would be studied in coaching seminars for years.
A forty-five-meter diagonal ball over CSKA's entire defense, dropping perfectly at Mbappé's feet. The striker controlled and finished.
1-0.
Assist of the season candidate. Vision. Technique. Execution. Perfect.
Monaco won 2-0.
December 7 - Champions League Matchday 6CSKA Moscow vs Monaco
The final group game in freezing Moscow. Monaco had already qualified. CSKA needed a win to advance.
The match was played in -8°C weather. Snow on the pitch. Brutal conditions.
But the Princes thrived.
Mbappé scored in the nineteenth minute. Ethan scored in the thirty-fourth—a brilliant solo goal, dribbling past three defenders before finishing. Lemar made it 3-0 before halftime.
CSKA pulled two back in the second half, but Monaco held on.
Final score: 2-3.
Monaco topped Group E with 16 points from 6 matches. Ethan: 5 goals, 3 assists in 6 Champions League games.
The knockout draw awaited. And all of Europe was watching the Princes of Monaco.
End of Chapter 18