Monaco’s Berbatov seeks goals on London return

LONDON/BERLIN — Dimitar Berbatov will be hoping for a goalscoring return against his former arch-enemies Arsenal when AS Monaco come to the red half of north London for their Champions League Round of 16 first leg match on Wednesday.

The Bulgarian is still remembered with affection for the 46 goals he scored for Arsenal’s local rivals Tottenham Hotspur in a two-year spell at White Hart Lane before a £30 million ($46.05 million) move to Manchester United in September 2008.

He scored twice for Fulham at the Emirates in a 3-3 draw in November 2012 and, though he turned 34 in January, the Bulgarian heads back to London as Monaco’s top scorer this season.

Monaco head to Arsenal buoyed by their 1-0 derby win at Nice on Friday which sees them fourth in Ligue 1 with just one defeat in their last 17 matches in all competitions.

They also won 1-0 at the Emirates last August when Radamel Falcao, now on loan at Manchester United, scored the only goal in the pre-season Emirates Cup tournament against the hosts.

But there will be very little similarity between that warm-up summer run-out and the real business of the Champions League on Wednesday.

Monaco’s Belgian winger Yannick Carrasco is having treatment on a bruised right thigh while their France defender Layvin Kurzawa is also being treated for bruised quadriceps.

Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim told Britain’s Sunday Sun newspaper: “Everyone considered us a gift, a lucky draw, so the luck fell to Arsenal.

“It’s normal that everyone thinks Arsenal will qualify. I too think Arsenal are favourites but in football sometimes money and the favourites don’t win.” 

Super tough 

Arsenal’s French manager Arsene Wenger, who coached Monaco between 1987 and 1994, has warned his players not to underestimate the visitors as his current team, in the last 16 for the 15th consecutive year, attempt to end a run of four successive exits at this stage.

“The last 16 in recent years has been super tough,” Wenger said. “This is a 50-50 game. We know that Monaco are very tight defensively — they didn’t concede in the group stage against good teams.

“They came back into a good position in the league and their confidence level will be high,” he told the club’s website.

Like Monaco, Arsenal are also on a good run of form with eight wins in their last nine games despite injuries to Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Debuchy.

They also have history on their side, having lost just twice to French teams in 20 competitive matches.

Monaco have played English sides 10 times, winning five and losing two, but this is their first competitive game against Arsenal.

Tough record 

Atletico Madrid, tough to beat on the road in the Champions League, pose a stern test for a Bayer Leverkusen side in poor form and with an equally poor record against Spanish clubs in Europe.

Last season’s runners-up have lost one of their nine away games in the competition since September 2013, winning five of them, and will be confident of taking a positive result home from Wednesday’s Round of 16 first leg.

They bounced back from a surprise defeat at Celta Vigo with a 3-0 success at Almeria in La Liga on Saturday that lifted the Spanish champions to within three points of second-placed Barcelona.

Diego Simeone’s side rediscovered the intensity that had been missing in Galicia and forwards Mario Mandzukic and Antoine Griezmann showed their partnership could be the key to Atletico’s hopes of silverware this term.

Mandzukic, who knows the Bundesliga well from his stint at Bayern Munich, converted a 13th-minute penalty and twice set up Griezmann to score before Atletico eased off in the second half.

“The victory was very welcome after the defeat in Vigo,” Simeone told a news conference.

Simeone is unlikely to have Koke available after the Spain midfielder sustained a hamstring injury in this month’s 4-0 La Liga victory at home to Real Madrid.

The Argentine coach is also aware yellow cards could prove costly for Cristian Ansaldi, Gabi and Diego Godin, all a booking away from a suspension that would seem them miss the return leg.

For Leverkusen it is a different story with the German club having never won a last-16 tie, with the competition having a second group stage when they reached the final in 2002.

They have also been struggling in the Bundesliga with one win in their last six games — putting coach Roger Schmidt under pressure as the team is far from certain of playing in the Champions League next season, despite a 37 million investment in players.

Their record against Spanish clubs in Europe over two legs is equally questionable, having lost their last four two-legged ties against Spanish opposition.

To make matters worse, Schmidt’s team will be without defender Omer Toprak with the Turkey international serving out a suspension for a red card in the last group game.

But he is confident the Champions League can help them rediscover their form from earlier this season.

“The Champions League is the best thing there is,” said Schmidt. “We are really looking forward to it and it will help us.”