adminLONDON. — Dimitar Berbatov will be hoping for a goalscoring return against his former arch-enemies Arsenal when AS Monaco come to the red half of north London for their Champions League soccer Round of 16 first leg match tonight.
The match kicks-off at 9:45pm.
The Bulgarian is still remembered with affection for the 46 goals he scored for Arsenal’s local rivals Tottenham Hotspur in a two-year spell at White Hart Lane before a 30 million pounds move to Manchester United in September 2008.
He scored twice for Fulham at the Emirates in a 3-3 draw in November 2012 and, though he turned 34 in January, the Bulgarian heads back to London as Monaco’s top scorer this season.
Monaco head to Arsenal buoyed by their 1-0 derby win at Nice on Friday which sees them fourth in Ligue 1 with just one defeat in their last 17 matches in all competitions.
They also won 1-0 at the Emirates last August when Radamel Falcao, now on loan at Manchester United, scored the only goal in the pre-season Emirates Cup tournament against the hosts.
But there will be very little similarity between that warm-up summer run-out and the real business of the Champions League tonight.
Monaco have been rocked by a succession of injury blows in the build up to their Champions League clash with Arsenal.
Leonardo Jardim’s side has been ravaged by injuries, especially to his defence.
Defender Layvin Kurzawa, who is being hotly tipped with a move to the Premier League in the summer, hobbled off after 35 minutes in Monaco’s victory over Nice at the weekend.
Kurzawa suffered bruising to his left leg and spent Sunday having treatment.
Midfield star Yannick Ferreira Carrasco also picked up an injury in that match.
The Belgian did play the full 90 minutes against Nice but picked up an injury to his right thigh and is doubtful.
Former Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho missed Monaco’s last game after he was injured against Guingamp on February 8 but could be in contention to return against the Gunners.
Fellow defender Andrea Raggi has only played one game for the French giants this month as he continues his recovery from a knee sprain.
Midfielder Tiemoué Bakayoko is continuing this rehabilitation following his own thigh injury.
And, former Everton loanee Lacina Traore is a long-term absentee as he will undergo an operation this week for a stress fracture to his right tibia.
Monaco coach Jardim told Britain’s Sunday Sun newspaper: “Everyone considered us a gift, a lucky draw, so the luck fell to Arsenal.
“It’s normal that everyone thinks Arsenal will qualify. I too think Arsenal are favourites but in football sometimes money and the favourites don’t win.”
Arsenal’s French manager Arsene Wenger, who coached Monaco between 1987 and 1994, has warned his players not to underestimate the visitors as his current team, in the last 16 for the 15th consecutive year, attempt to end a run of four successive exits at this stage.
“The last 16 in recent years has been super tough,” Wenger said. “This is a 50-50 game. We know that Monaco are very tight defensively — they didn’t concede in the group stage against good teams.
“They came back into a good position in the league and their confidence level will be high” he told the club’s website (www.arsenal.com).
Wenger has insisted the business of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals will come before his personal feelings of facing his former club Monaco tonight.
The Frenchman spent seven seasons in the Principality from 1987 and reached the 1992 European Cup-Winners’ Cup final.
After Wenger was sacked in 1994, he spent 18 months in Japan before being appointed at Arsenal in September 1996.
And as Le Professeur prepares to face Monaco for the first time, he admitted the last-16 showdown will also be a trip down memory lane.
“At the draw I said to myself: ‘Bizarre’,” the Arsenal boss revealed. “But I just told myself that my life had been made there, between these two clubs.
“The nostalgia of the young man that I was is going to meet the man that I am but it is match with huge consequences — the professional side of me will take over from everything else.”
Like Monaco, Arsenal are also on a good run of form with eight wins in their last nine games despite injuries to Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Debuchy.
They also have history on their side, having lost just twice to French teams in 20 competitive matches.
Monaco have played English sides 10 times, winning five and losing two, but this is their first competitive game against Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Arsenal Invincible Emmanuel Petit reckons the current Gunners team lack the steel of his generation.
“You have to remember the defence that we had,” said Petit. “You could rely on Seaman, Adams, Keown, etc.
“We knew how to travel. When we had to play, we knew how to do that too. I remember one away game at Wimbledon where Tony Adams came to say to me: ‘Today, Manu, forget the football. It’s war’. We knew how to adapt because we only wanted one thing: to win.”
Petit, now 44, reckons the current Arsenal team lacks the same hard edge.
“Let’s say that the Barcelona of keeping the ball has overtaken that style,” he said.
“But today, you have to be more direct and pragmatic. You see that with Germany or Real Madrid. Arsenal have very pretty players but there are not ‘killers’ in this team. At that time, we were tough, we did not play to look good.”
Wenger gave Petit his Monaco debut in 1988 — and then brought the France midfielder to Arsenal in 1997.
And Petit warned Monaco will offer a tough challenge in the last 16 despite the loss of Radamel Falcao, James Rodriguez and Emmanuel Riviere.
“What they have done is remarkable with all the players they have lost,” he said. “The changes have been handled perfectly and the Champions League has helped. It is no one of the biggest fortresses in Europe.
“I will be supporting the red and whites! No, honestly, I cannot make the choice. May the best team win.”
Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev, whose side conceded only one goal in the group stages, said: “Clearly Arsenal are the favourites. But I believe that my team will give everything.
“The pressure is on Arsenal. We have already done well. Nobody saw us at this stage of the competition at the start of the season.” — Soccernet.
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