The Gunners play host to the fourth-placed Ligue 1 outfit at the Emirates in their first leg tie, and French defender Laurent Koscielny is anticipating a tough match against his manager’s former team.
“They have a good team with experienced players like Dimitar Berbatov, Joao Moutinho and Ricardo Calrvalho," he told Arsenal Player. "They also have some young players with a lot of quality because I play with some [of their] players for the national team.”
Monaco conceded just once in their six group stage matches, and are the joint-best defensive team in the French League, which has been duly noted by Arsenal’s regular centre-back.
“They defend well because they didn’t concede a lot of goals in the group stage and in the French league they haven’t conceded a lot of goals either,” said the 29-year-old.
“They also have some good players on the flanks with pace and quality to make the difference one against one.”
Koscielny is especially wary of former Tottenham, Manchester United and Fulham forward Dimitar Berbatov who makes his return to England, having scored six League goals in 18 matches since joining the French side.
“After you have Berbatov up front and you know that with just one ball he can create something special,” Koscielny said. “We need to be focused on this. We respect this team but we need to play our game and that’s why we can win.”
Kick off at the Emirates is set for 21:45.