Arsenal's Santi Cazorla, left, celebrates with Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez, second left, after scoring a penalty during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal at Selhurst Park, London, Saturday. — AP LONDON — Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists he hasn't been wasting any time on nostalgic reminiscences ahead of his reunion with former club Monaco in the Champions League Wednesday. Wenger made his name as a manager during a successful seven-year spell at Monaco, which included leading it to the Ligue 1 title in 1988, winning the French Cup three years later and finishing as runner-up in the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup. Yet, since leaving the French Riviera after being sacked in 1994, Wenger, now in his 19th year in charge at Arsenal, has rarely come into contact with the team where he spent his formative years as a coach. The Gunners were beaten by Monaco in a pre-season match before the current campaign, when a goal from Radamel Falcao, now on loan at Manchester United, gave Leonardo Jardim's side a 1-0 victory in the Emirates Cup. While Wenger was dismissive of his own memories of Monaco, the 65-year-old Frenchman is far too astute to be as offhand about his old club's current players. After failing to reach the quarterfinals of Europe's elite club competition since 2010, due to a series of tough draws against the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona, this appears a golden opportunity for Arsenal to finally reach the last eight again. But Wenger warned his players not to underestimate the French side, which is fourth in Ligue 1 and advanced to the last 16 as group winner thanks largely to a pair of impressive victories over Bayer Leverkusen. Dimitar Berbatov, who heads back to London as Monaco's top scorer this season, will, however, be hoping for a goalscoring return against his former archrival Arsenal. 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 $46.05 million move to Manchester United in September 2008. The other match will see 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 runner-up has lost one of its 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. It bounced back from a surprise defeat at Celta Vigo with a 3-0 success at Almeria in La Liga Saturday that lifted the Spanish champion 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. 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 it reached the final in 2002. It has also been struggling in the Bundesliga with one win in its last six games — putting coach Roger Schmidt under pressure as the team are far from certain of playing in the Champions League next season, despite a 37 million investment in players. — Agencies
