Arsene Wenger says that Arsenal's Champions League clash with Monaco will bring together 25 years of his life.
The Frenchman has been at the Gunners helm for 18 years and spent seven years in the Principality, where he won a league title and the Coupe de France before leaving for Japan in 1994.
Wenger has never been back to Monaco - at least not to the stadium - and he is relishing the prospect of a reunion in the last 16 of the Champions League.
"It’s a signal for us to be ready to meet a tough team who defend very well and are very quick on counter-attacks"
"We had very few chances to get Monaco and I think it’s a strange coincidence in life because I’ve spent 25 years of my life at Monaco and Arsenal together, so it’s a little bit like my life meets my life," Wenger told Arsenal Player.
"It’s good as well because I go back to basically where I started. I've never [been back], because I was always very busy and since I’ve been here in England we’ve played every three days basically throughout the whole season. I’ve been back to the city a few times but never to the stadium.
"Overall it’s an opportunity for us to get through to the quarter-final," added Wenger.
"Having said that, Monaco is a tough draw because they’ve come top out of a very tough group and that means it’s a signal for us to be ready to meet a tough team who defend very well and are very quick on counter-attacks. We need a good defensive performance against them."
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
