Champions League: 5 most intriguing match-ups of the round of 16
By Abhinav Kini
Arsenal vs Monaco
For once, Arsenal fans can finally be happy with their round of 16 draw. After repeatedly being handed tough ties since 2010, the Gunners can be deemed really lucky to draw a lackluster Monaco side.
Arsenal have never faced Monaco in a European competition before but Gunners manager, Arsene Wenger requires no introduction to his former side.
However, that doesn’t mean it’ll be an easy ride for Arsenal – while the French side haven’t been scoring bucket loads of goals (topping their group with just four goals scored), Leonardo Jardim’s side have been defensively solid.
Les Rouges et Blancs only conceded one goal in the entire group stage in six games while they’ve been hard to penetrate in Ligue 1 as well, conceding 19 goals in 24 games – one goal less than PSG.
To make things even more impressive, Monaco didn’t concede a goal in 842 minutes of action until their recent 1-0 defeat to Guingamp – the longest streak in Europe.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see how Wenger’s side deal with Monaco’s discipline tactically, we could be in for a great game. Arsenal though, seem to be clicking at the right time as well with the return of Mesut Özil and Theo Walcott, having scored 16 goals in their last six games in all competitions while the presence of Alexis Sanchez is always a game changer.
Prediction: Arsenal