Monaco might be the team that launched Arsene Wenger’s managerial career, but they showed the Frenchman little bonhomie last night as they thrashed Arsenal 3-1.
The French principality side ruthlessly punished a lacklustre Gunners display, scoring three away goals, to leave the hosts on the brink of another Champions League last-16 exit.
Wenger may well point to the huge deflection off Per Mertesacker that carried Geoffrey Kondogbia’s first-half strike past David Ospina, but the goalkeeper still had time to react.
And there were few mitigating factors as former Tottenham forward Dimitar Berbatov put his side in a commanding position with a powerful second.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain briefly gave Arsenal a glimmer of hope, but Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco delivered what could be the killer blow. It was little more than the Ligue 1 side deserved, and as the final whistle blew there was a palpable feeling of despair within the Emirates Stadium.
Olivier Giroud may well have ensured Arsenal travel to Monaco with more hope but his hat-trick of misses compounded a woeful attacking performance. In his first ever game against a former club, Arsene Wenger picked a team that appeared designed to ensure this tie was over before the second.
Santi Cazorla was stationed in a defensive midfield role, with Alexis Sanchez, Danny Welbeck and Mesut Ozil behind lone striker Olivier Giroud. But while that attacking quartet would have been expected to tear into their visitors, the first half turned out to be a dreadfully insipid affair.
Bayer Leverkusen claimed a narrow 1-0 advantage over last season’s finalists Atletico Madrid through Hakan Calhanoglu’s second half strike.
The hosts made a fast start, coming close to an early opener when skipper Emir Spahic had an effort cleared off the line from a corner.
But Atletico nearly took the lead in the final seconds of the opening period when a loose ball inside the area dropped to Tiago, and the midfielder unleashed a fierce low shot which was brilliantly saved by Bernd Leno’s reflex leap to his left.
The Spanish team appeared to have settled the game down in the early stages of the second period, but then came Leverkusen’s opener as Karim Bellarabi held the ball up on the edge of the box and released a clever back heel which Calhanoglu took in his stride and thrashed high into the net.
Chasing a vital away goal, Atletico boss Diego Simeone made a positive move with the introduction of a third striker as Fernando Torres entered the action to make his first Champions League appearance for the club.
Atletico were on the wrong end of two refereeing decisions as Torres had a goal disallowed after Antoine Griezmann’s cross was controversially adjudged to have gone out of play before it reached the middle, and within seconds Tiago was sent off for a recklessly earned second yellow card.
