Arsenal have been handed the dream draw in the Champions League last 16 round after being paired with Monaco, says former Gunner Charlie Nicholas.
The draw, which took place this morning, could have been a lot worse for Arsene Wenger’s men, but they managed to avoid the likes of Bayern Munich Barcelona and Real Madrid and – to the delight of Arsenal fans – were pitted against one of the two ‘easier’ sides in Monaco.
Wenger was quoted in today’s Sun saying he hopes to come up against his former side Monaco, and the Frenchman’s prayers were answered.
And Nicholas believes the Gunners now stand a chance of progressing into the quarter-finals after being handed ‘the best possible draw’ available:
‘I remember Arsene Wenger saying he was going to go to church ahead of the draw and I reckon it worked.
‘Ahead of the draw I was looking at either Porto or Monaco and it looks the best possible draw, certainly the best draw we’ve had in a while, and I would have expected their odds to have been cut even more than they were.’
He added:
‘We know Monaco only scored four goals in qualifying but are defensively strong and that’s the sort of side Arsenal will suit playing against, given their main strength is going forward.
‘It’s not going to be a hostile atmosphere either and, with Mesut Ozil hopefully fit again by then and Olivier Giroud back in the goals, I’m pretty confident we’ll come through.’
It was the best draw we could have hoped for and there will be real belief around the club and fans that the side can progress further into the competition.
Monaco aren’t the same side they were last season after losing star duo James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao, but they are defensively assured and shouldn’t be taken lightly either.
They still have some decent players in the form of Joao Moutinho, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Lucas Ocampos and even Dimitar Berbatov.
However, we’d rather play the Ligue 1 club than the likes of Real or Bayern, and hopefully, if we progress, some of the bigger boys in the competition will be out of contention.
