Paris Brunner was back from suspension and straight back into Monaco's attack. He scored after three minutes in the 2-1 win at CSKA Sofia, then set up Ansu Fati before half-time. It was his first competitive match for Monaco since 18 September, and it looked like he had never really gone away.
Brunner's instant return
The numbers are already moving fast. Brunner has seven goals in all competitions this season in his eighth match, with four of those goals coming in five Ligue 1 appearances. In the Conference League, he has three goals from three appearances, a tidy return for a player who has only just got back into the team.
He also has a 7.6 average in the competition. That lines up with what Monaco saw in Sofia, where Brunner attacked early, combined well with Takumi Minamino and picked the right pass for Fati's finish in the 43rd minute.
Monaco's European start
Monaco won their first Conference League match of the season and sit ninth after one game. The opener at CSKA Sofia was lively rather than controlled, but Filipe Luís will not care much about that as long as Brunner keeps bringing this sort of output.
The early return from suspension matters because Monaco have already seen what Brunner can do when he is involved from the start. He was decisive in the first three minutes, then decisive again before the break, and that is a strong base for a side that opened its European campaign with three points.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
