Why Arsenal Cannot Take Monaco Lightly! by AT
The majority of Arsenal fans will be very happy with the Champions League round of 16 draw after drawing AS Monaco and will also be quietly confident of the Gunners beating the Ligue 1 outfit to progress into the Quarter-Finals of Europe’s elite competition. While it is comparatively a much better draw considering we could have drawn Real Madrid or Bayern Munich like the past two seasons, the Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has reminded us that Monaco will not be pushovers.
Speaking to L’Equipe, the French international said: “I’m not relieved, no. But it’s true that we had not been spoiled by the draw in recent seasons. Since I arrived at Arsenal, we have come up against Bayern twice in the last 16. That was a very tough draw.
He continued: “I have a friend who called me and said: ‘Oh, it’s good, a French team, you’re lucky!’. Meaning, ‘it’s going to be easy’. Well, we’ll have to see after the game. I think it’s 50/50. Monaco are a good team, even if they don’t have a lot of Champions League experience. They are a young team with very good players.”
Personally, I completely agree with Ollie. Whilst we Arsenal fans can be glad that we avoided the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, it has to be remembered that our path into the next round of the Champions League is not assured just because we drew Monaco. Even without Radamel Falcao, the French giants still pack a punch and are more than capable of ‘upsetting’ Arsene Wenger’s side.
While I am certainly not implying that Monaco are favourites, I will say that Arsenal fans cannot be too confident of beating Leonardo Jardim’s side. Monaco have a very talented bunch of players who will certainly take the fight to Arsenal when the two sides meet in February. Hopefully, Arsene Wenger will strengthen the Gunners squad by then to beat the French money bags and progress into the next round of the competition.