Mońka’s debut in the starting line-up

A year ago, Mońka had just one match appearance for the senior team in his account, however, the following months have enabled the youth player to gain plenty of experience in professional football – by the spring round of 2024 he was already a starting line-up player for Lech’s B team. In addition, he made it into the match squad for Lech’s first-team clash with Cracovia, however, the 17-year-old was forced to wait for his debut. It wasn’t until this season – more precisely, the 3^rd round of PKO BP Ekstraklasa – that Mońka finally debuted for Lech’s senior team. He was subbed in for the last few minutes of the game and ever since then, the defender has been working hard with Niels Frederiksen and the senior squad to get another chance. Finally, he was given one.

In Lech’s last match of 2024, the Danish coach put the 17-year-old in the starting line-up. Mońka was tasked with guarding Lech’s goal and stopping, among others, Lukas Podolski. Hence, it is no surprise that the days before Mońka’s debut in the first XI were full of emotions.

“I was very excited; after all, you only make your debut in the starting line-up once. I consider this a great achievement and a dream come true which I have been hoping for since I was a kid. Of course, I awaited the match impatiently and I felt some nerves. However, I was glad to feel the stress disappear completely during the warm-up,” explained the homegrown player who has been representing Lech since he was 10.

On the pitch, Mońka did his best to present his strengths which include courageous playmaking as well as spotting space to send long balls that cut through the opponent's defensive line – and this is exactly how the youngster got his first assist in senior football and helped Afonso Sousa score.

“After I received the ball, all I heard was my colleagues shouting “Sousa, Sousa!”. So I raised my head, took a look, and passed to Sousa. He controlled the ball very well, overtook the defender, and delivered a brilliant finish which he deserves credit for,” this is how Mońka described the offensive attempt that resulted in a goal. The 17-year-old has made numerous similar passes in the past whilst competing for Lech's youth teams.

After the match in Silesia ended, Mońka felt disappointed by the final result. The youth player also highlighted that his performance wasn’t flawless and emphasized that during the winter break, he was going to work hard to continue developing his skills.

“I felt good but owe it mostly to my teammates who supported me. I made mistakes, for sure, and I ought to work on eliminating them; there are a lot of conclusions for me to draw,” said Mońka who made 52 accurate passes (out of 56), and got 4 ball interceptions.