Monaco 8 - Deportivo La Coruña 3

Monaco: Roma; Evra (Ibarra 83'), Squillaci, Rodríguez, Givet; Giuly, Cissé, Bernardi, Plasil (Zikos 67'), Rothen; Prso (Adebayor 75'). 4-5-1.
Deportivo: Molina (Munúa 46'); Manuel Pablo (Munitis 46'), Andrade, Naybet, Romero; Sergio (Pandiani 60'), Mauro Silva; Scaloni, Valerón, Amavisca; Diego Tristán. 4-2-3-1.

Goals:
1-0. 02. Rothen. Lobbed keeper after Manuel Pablo failed to cut out long cross.
2-0. 11. Giuly. Collected ball over top by Bernardi to round Molina and score.
3-0. 26. Prso. Found space in area to head home corner from right.
4-0. 30. Prso. Got above Manuel Pablo to head in after free kick not cleared.
4-1. 39. Diego Tristán. Controlled Amavisca cross and scored on turn.
4-2. 44. Scaloni. Following up after Roma blocked shot from Valerón.
5-2. 45. Prso. Tap in after Giuly touched ball past Molina on breakaway.
6-2. 47. Plasil. Lobbed ball back into empty net after Munúa tried to head clear.
7-2. 49. Prso. Latched on to Rothen cross to shoot past Munúa.
7-3. 52. Diego Tristán. Picked up Valerón pass and dribbled through to score.
8-3. 67. Cissé. Ran through defence and hit low shot wide of keeper.

Group C :
Monaco................... 9 points
Deportivo................ 7 points
PSV Eindhoven.... 6 points
AEK Athens............ 1 point

An extraordinary result in Monaco, where group leaders Deportivo were trounced by the hosts 8-3, the highest scoring game in Champions' League history. Despite missing the injured Morientes, the French side took advantage of disastrous defending to race into a four goal lead in the first half hour, with Rothen and Giuly starting things off by running past a poor offside trap to collect successive long passes from Bernadi and beat Molina. The goalkeeper had decided to play despite suffering all day from gastric enteritis, and he certainly looked off colour when Prso scored two headed goals in four minutes, the first from a corner and the second after a comical attempt by the defence to clear a free kick.

The Spaniards came back though with a shot on the turn through Roma's legs from Diego Tristán, and when Scaloni scored a second after the keeper could only push out Valerón's effort it looked like they might even get back in the game. But just before the break Prso celebrated his 29th birthday by completing one of the fastest ever Champions' League hat-tricks, and the game was already over.

Molina decided that he had probably made a mistake starting the match, and handed over the keeper's jersey to his number two Manúa. But the Uruguay international fared no better on his European debut, coming out of his area to head the ball clear under a challenge from Giuly only to see the ball fall to Plasil for him to lob it back into the empty net. And with only four minutes on the clock in the second half, Prso got his fourth of the night with a shot which took a slight deflection off Romero.

Diego Tristán pulled another one back with a strike which, in other circumstances, would be hailed as one of the goals of month. But Cissé rounded things off with an eighth goal, and still with a quarter of the game to go. That was it though on the goals front, and Monaco move above their rivals to top the group. Deportivo were humiliated but they still ended the day in second place, and if they can get over this result they still have a good chance of going through to the next round.