Tiémoué Bakayoko is bullish about AS Monaco's chances of qualifying for next season's UEFA Champions League after helping the team to the brink of the top three.
The on-loan Chelsea midfielder helped drive the principality outfit to a third successive win with a 1-0 defeat of Montpellier Hérault SC on Friday that lifted Robert Moreno's men into fifth place, just three points off the Ligue 1 Conforama podium.
For a team that spent the first seven rounds of the season in the bottom three and was in the lower half of the table as recently as four matches ago, it would be quite a feat to secure a place in European club football's premier competition for the 2020/21 campaign.
Bakayako, a member of the Monaco side that reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2016-17, is convinced they can do it.
"The aim is to qualify for the Champions League, we've never hidden that. We fell behind a bit, but the season is long with 13 matches still to go," he said. "There's the real chance that we can meet our objective."
After failing to win his first three league matches in charge, Moreno now has his team on a roll, and has managed to shore up a leaky defence, conceding just once in their last three top-flight outings.
"We can't stop now, we're Monaco. We have grand ambitions," said Bakayoko, who won the 2016-17 Ligue 1 Conforama title with the principality side. "I hope everyone will realise there is the possibility to climb the table quickly. We've gotten close to the top places, now we have to stay there and win again next weekend."
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