Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger takes on his former club AS Monaco in the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday, with the Ligue 1 side looking to put themselves into a position to progress into the quarterfinals for the first time since they made a surprise run to the final in 2004 (only to be beaten by José Mourinho’s Porto). Alas, the glory days at Monaco that threatened to return under the ownership of the wealthy Russian Dmitry Rybolovlev haven’t materialised, and the Gunners will be fully expecting to win this tie.
Arsenal vs. Monaco preview, Champions League 2015: Gunners come up against stubborn defence
Monaco’s success this season has been built on a sturdy defence: can they now stop Arsenal in the Champions League round of 16?
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They’ll be looking to use home advantage to maximum effect in the first leg at the Emirates; Arsenal have won nine in a row on home turf, and only conceded three goals along the way. For a team that still looks remarkably dodgy both in midfield and at the back, that’s not bad going. Monaco head into this tie also in surprisingly good form, but they are undoubtedly still outsiders.
Team news
Arsenal will still be without Mathieu Debuchy, Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta, though Héctor Bellerín, Mathieu Flamini, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere could all recover from injury problems in time to play. Monaco will likely still be without veteran defenders Ricardo Carvalho and Andrea Raggi, while there are also concerns over the fitness of left-back Layvin Kurzawa, who picked up an injury in the side's win over Nice on the weekend. Veteran defensive midfielder Jérémy Toulalan misses out through suspension, and could prove to be a big miss.
Projected lineups (left to right)
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): David Ospina; Nacho Monreal, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Calum Chambers; Santi Cazorla, Francis Coquelin; Alexis Sánchez, Mesut Özil, Danny Welbeck; Olivier Giroud.
Monaco (4-2-3-1): Danijel Subašić; Elderson Echiéjilé, Aymen Abdennour, Wallace, Fabinho; Geoffrey Kondogbia, João Moutinho; Yannick Ferreira Carrasco, Bernardo Silva, Nabil Dirar; Dimitar Berbatov.
Key Matchups
Alexis Sánchez vs. Fabinho - There is no doubting that Arsenal's Chilean wing wonder Alexis Sánchez will be the best player on the pitch when these sides face off. If he starts out on the left flank, he'll be up against Monaco right-back Fabinho, who is still only 21 years old and lacking in experience. One suspects this could be a rather one-sided matchup.
Yannick Ferreira Carrasco vs. Arsenal’s right-back - However, in the shape of young Belgian Yannick Ferreira Carrasco, Monaco have a talented winger of their own. The 21-year-old has probably been the attacking star of their broadly successful league campaign to date, and could cause problems for Arsenal’s right-back in this match, be it Calum Chambers or Héctor Bellerín.
Dimitar Berbatov vs. himself - Dimitar Berbatov is a player capable of producing moments of sublime technical skill worthy of the world’s best players. The only problem is, he doesn’t seem to do it very often, and spends the rest of the time ambling around the field looking decidedly uninterested. If he’s on song, Monaco will have a chance; if not, expect their fans to start getting rather irate at the Bulgarian striker.
Prediction
Monaco’s success this season has been the result of their impressively sturdy defence: they managed to get through into the knockout stages of this tournament by scoring only four goals in the group stages, and they’ve conceded fewer goals in the league than anyone bar league leaders Lyon. It’s certainly not going to be a rout. Having said that, Arsenal are the better side, and should have the personnel capable of nicking a win. 1-0 Arsenal.
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