Arsene Wenger will be relishing the prospect of meeting his old club Monaco in their first leg Champions League last 16 tie. The two sides clash at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night , the first time that they have ever met in European competition.
Wenger led Monaco to the French league title in 1988 during a seven-year spell in charge. Silverware may have been hard to come by at Arsenal in recent years but they have a good chance of reaching the last eight in the Champions League and are still defending the FA Cup which ended their long trophy drought last season.
The Gunners have failed to reach the last eight since beating Porto in 2009/10 but they are in good form in the Premiership and have a stronger squad than in previous years. There is healthy competition for most places, particularly up front since the return to fitness of Giroud and Walcott. The form of Sanchez and Cazorla has been key to Arsenal’s recent form and they look to have enough fire power to take a first leg lead.
Monaco won Group C with the best defensive record in the competition, conceding only one goal. They have also been in good form domestically with a defeat against Guingamp their first in nine games. The wise bet here may be to go for the Gunners to win by a single goal.
The other Champions League tie is between Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid. Leverkusen were knocked out comprehensively by PSG last year and have a poor record against Spanish opposition. They are currently only sixth in the Bundesliga and have been leaking goals in recent matches.
Spanish champions Atletico were beaten in the final by Real last season and have failed to keep pace with their rivals this season in La Liga. They did manage to beat them at home and away and are strong favourites to make it through to the last eight.
It will be interesting to see former Liverpool and Chelsea striker Fernando Torres back in action in this competition. All of his goals for the club have so far come in the Copa del Rey. His first spell with Atletico was back in 2004 to 2007 when the Champions League was just a pipedream.
Arsenal to win by 1 goal @9-4 Bet365
Atletico Madrid to win @31-20 BetVictor
