Hradecky opens up ahead of Conference League play-off in Zabrze

Lukas Hradecky goes into Thursday's UEFA Conference League play-off first leg against Górnik Zabrze, Poland's vice-champions, having given one of the more candid pre-season interviews heard from a Monaco player in recent years. Speaking at the club's training camp in England, the 36-year-old Finnish goalkeeper spent twenty-five minutes reflecting on a demanding debut campaign on the Rock and on what drives him as a person.

The match in Zabrze kicks off at 20:00 local time, with the return leg to follow at the Stade Louis II. A place in the Conference League group stage is at stake, making this Monaco's first competitive test of the 2026-27 season. Hradecky, signed to bring experience and composure to a squad building under its current project, arrives at the tie having clearly settled into life in the Principality, whatever turbulence last season brought.

His willingness to speak openly, summed up by his own phrase "I hope to be authentic", will resonate with supporters who have followed his adaptation from Bayer Leverkusen, where he was a Bundesliga title winner, to the rather different pressures of Monaco. How he performs in Zabrze will matter far more than any interview, but the signs from pre-season suggest a goalkeeper settled and ready.