Despite this loss, Aston Villa have been in good form recently, winning seven of their last 12 matches in all competitions.
As well as competing in Europe, Villa are also in contention for a top-four finish in the Premier League, with strikers Ollie Watkins and John Doran a key component of their performances at home and abroad.
Watkins has scored 10 goals in all competitions so far this season while Duran has 12, but Emery has mostly opted to alternate between the two, having been unable to get them to play effectively as a partnership.
Watkins started the match against Monaco and Duran joined him in attack in the 57th minute, but they were unable to threaten the hosts before the end of time.
Emery said: “The last 20 minutes we played with two attackers, and we were not organized in the position I wanted.”
“We have two good strikers. Playing with two strikers is my challenge. They are both very good players but it didn't work well today.
“I made a mistake when I decided to play with two strikers. Until that moment we more or less controlled the game.”
