AS Monaco manager Claudio Ranieri has said that his men were lucky to progress against Nice in the Coupe de France, with his side's opponents apparently being the better of the two teams.

Monaco reached the semi-final stage thanks to an extra-time goal from Dimitar Berbatov, who fired home five minutes from the end of extra time.

"I knew this game would be difficult, I had said so already. We also worked on penalties this morning," said Ranieri after the game.

"Nice were better than us even when they had ten men to our eleven. I noted that our opponent has done virtually the same performance at home."

Monaco currently find themselves in second position in the Ligue 1 table.

Written by
Christopher Dodd