Arsenal need to rewrite the record books if they are to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2010 after stumbling to a 3-1 loss to a Dimitar Berbatov inspired Monaco. The Gunners started brightly but it was the visitors who took the lead thanks to Geoffrey Kondogbia’s deflected shot in the first half.
Berbatov deepened Arsenal’s woes when he made it 2-0 early in the second half after another defensive mistake. But when substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored in stoppage-time, it looked as though the Gunners had a glimmer of hope. But Yannick Ferreira Carrasco added a third goal just before the final whistle to leave the Gunners with a mountain to climb as they visit the Stade Louis II in the second leg.
Here are the major talking points from the game.
1. Arsenal get what they deserve
After tricky ties against Barcelona, Bayern Munich and AC Milan in the past few years, the Gunners were over the moon after finding out that they would be facing arguably the weakest group winners in the Round of 16. If there was any explanation for their performance against Monaco, it was that perhaps their trip back from the moon took a lot more out of them than they expected as their 3-1 loss was nothing more than what they deserved.
When Oxlade-Chamberlain scored to make it 2-1, many thought they had gotten out of jail, but a late goal means that now they have to score three goals in a single game against a side who have only conceded three goals in the calendar year so far. While Arsenal’s defensive deficiencies are well-documented, against the French side, they failed even as an attacking unit. Their passing was pedestrian and utterly predictable, there was no pace or movement when they went forward and the result, was evidence of the fact that there are no easy games in the knockout stages of the Champions League.