English teams are an integral part of the Champions League football and are always favourites to make it to the semi-finals. Though only Chelsea have consistently performed in Champions League over the last few years, the recent results of Manchester City and Arsenal in Europe offers better performance from the English sides. Only Arsenal out of the three English clubs has got a favourable fixture. Chelsea has a tough trip to Paris and Manchester City has another tough draw against Barcelona. Though both teams boast excellent coaches and squads, they haven’t performed exceptionally in the away fixtures though City has come up with some great form in their last few fixtures against Bayern and AS Roma. Arsenal, who usually ends up with tough fixtures in the round of 16 has miraculously got an easy fixture against Monaco. Let us analyse each fixture and predict the possible results for English teams in Champions League.
Read: Part I of the article here – Analyzing Chelsea’s UCL Clash Against PSG
ARSENAL – MONACO
1st leg: 25th March – Venue: Emirates Stadium
2nd leg: 17thMarch – Venue: Stade Louis II
Arsenal key players: Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey, Wojciech Szczesny, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Monaco key players: Martin Stekelenburg, Dimitar Berbatov, Jeremy Toulalan,Yannick Ferreira Carrasco
Though Arsenal always gets past the group stages in the Champions League, they are always doomed by some tough draws but this time around they have been quite lucky with their draw. It will be an emotional return for Wenger as this was the club where he established himself as a world class manager after years in obscurity. Despite some differences with the club over the last months, Wenger is still grateful to Monaco for providing him the stage to succeed after an unsuccessful campaign in Nancy. Arsenal has had a poor start to the season despite defeating the group toppers Borussia Dortmund. Arsenal has been very reliant on Alexis Sanchez in order to obtain the results they want. Though there has been an upturn of form, Arsenal fans will want Wenger to buy a defender as their defensive line has been riddled by injuries.
Monaco has been an enigma to football pundits. Despite heavy investment, the club has failed to pick off in the Champions League. They have also been very mediocre in Ligue 1 as they are currently in the 6th position and have been struggling to rack up points. Monaco’s qualification to the next round will depend a lot on the Arsenal’s poor form and containing Alexis Sanchez.
KEY CLASHES:
- Dimitar Berbatov vs Per Mertesacker
Despite his age, veteran Manchester United forward Dimitar Berbatov is Monaco’s top scorer of the season with 7 goals. His goal poaching skills have been excellent and will play a huge role if Monaco is to qualify to the next round. Mertesacker has had an indifferent season with Arsenal conceding a large number of goals in the Premier League as well as in their infamous 3-3 draw against Anderlecht in the Champions League. The absence of his defensive partner Koscielny has greatly affected him. But the World Cup winner is still an excellent defender and will have to be at his best if he is to contain the threat of Dimitar Berbatov.
- Jeremy Toulalan vs Aaron Ramsey
The veteran midfielder Jeremy Toulalan’s excellent leadership has played an important part in Monaco’s success in the Champions League. He played a crucial part in the win against Zenit St Petersburg and Leverkusen. Toulalan’s presence in the midfield has effectively shielded the Monaco defence and has been one of the reasons for Monaco’s defensive steel in Europe this season. Ramsey has played a crucial part in providing a goal threat from the midfield for Arsenal in the recent weeks as their forward line has faltered way too many times this season. Ramsey’s spectacular volley against Galatasaray displays his exquisite technical ability. Monaco must contain Ramsey if they are to get anything out of the tie and must display their defensive steel at Emirates.
- Joao Moutinho vs Mathieu Flamini
Flamini is probably one of the most criticised players in the Arsenal team this season as his lack of pace has called out for an urgent need for a defensive midfielder in the Arsenal team. Whereas Joao Moutinho has also been criticised for his waning creativity recently as he has failed to make it anywhere near the top of assist charts. Despite a poor campaign for both the players, their face off will play an important role in the match. The results of the two legs may depend on who dominates who.