USMNT striker Folarin Balogun comes off bench as Monaco overcome Lamine Yamal and 10-man Barcelona in Champions League opener

U.S. international Folarin Balogun came off the bench to contribute to AS Monaco's upset over heavily-favored Barcelona in their Champions League opener at the Stade Louis II.

Barcelona were up against it from the opening minutes as defender Eric Garcia was sent off with a straight red card just 10 minutes into Thursday's action. Monaco pounced 16 minutes later on a goal from rising star Maghnes Akliouche, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead. It lasted just 12 minutes, though, before Lamine Yamal scored a stunner to bring Barca level.

Monaco, though, wouldn't be denied. After Balogun came on as part of a fleet of second-half subs, Monaco took the lead in the 71st on a goal from George Ilenikhena. Balogun then seemingly played his part in sealing the result by drawing a penalty, but, after a VAR check, the decision was reversed.

Fortunately for Monaco, they wouldn't need it as they held off their 10-man opponents.

Balogun has found minutes hard to come by this season as he hasn't been a focal point of the Monaco attack. Instead, Breel Embolo has primarily been the starter, as he was on Thursday.

In total, Balogun had played just 160 minutes in Ligue 1 as well as a 90-minute runout in the Trofeo Joan Gamper exhibition before Thursday's match.

This is Balogun's first-ever appearance in the Champions League.

He went into the season after a somewhat solid summer, despite the USMNT's Copa America crashout. Balogun scored twice at this summer's tournament, netting against both Bolivia and Panama in the group stage.

With the three Champions League points now in the bag, Balogun and Monaco will look ahead to a return to Ligue 1 as they host Le Havre on Sunday.