Monaco 0-2 Arsenal, Atletico Madrid 1-0 Leverkusen: Uefa Champions League as it happened
Fernando Torres goes down in the box, claiming he was caught in the face by a stray elbow. The ref isn't interested, but moments later Raul Garcia is down clutching his face, claiming he was caught by the stray arm of Rolfes. Judging by the nasty cut just below his eye, he may have a case, you know.
Arsenal just about survive a frenetic spell of pressure from the home side! Monaco lift a series of balls into the box that Arsenal fail to clear on each occasion. Moutinho eventually gets to a loose ball first and tries to work the space to take on the shot but his blocked off by Koscielny. A nervous few moments for Arsene Wenger's side.
Another nervy moment for the home side as Kurzawa loses the ball from a throw in and allows Sanchez to advance menacingly. The Chilean appears to overrun it as Subasic comes out to claim, but it slips away from the goalkeeper and almost falls nicely for Welbeck with the goal gaping. Monaco regroup however and clear the danger.
First opportunity of the game falls to Monaco. Kurzawa easily comes down the left flank and slides a simple pass into Berbatov inside the box. He can't shift the ball into a shooting position and instead rolls it back to Moutinho on the edge of the box but the Portuguese midfielder lifts a poor shot over the bar.
Arsenal have made a habit of making things hard for themselves in this competition. Two years ago they secured a 2-0 second leg win over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, only to still go out having fallen 3-1 at home in the first leg.
The year before that, the Gunners were crushed 4-0 by Milan at the San Siro in their first leg last 16 clash. Arsenal rallied superbly, but a 3-0 win back in north London wasn't enough. Can they buck the trend this evening?
Three goals this evening is an absolute minimum for Arsenal.
Wenger's side have won by a three goal margin away from home twice already this season – albeit in very different circumstances. The Gunners sauntered to a 3-0 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park in September before hitting four away to Galatasaray in December.
In order to save their European campaign, Arsenal must tonight become the first side in Champions League history to turn around a two-goal deficit away from home in the second leg of a knock out tie. Against the team who boast the meanest defence in France who haven't conceded three goals in a single game at home for three and a half years. Is there anything else against them this evening? Oh.
So there are three changes for Arsenal from the side that beat West Ham on the weekend with Danny Welbeck, Hector Bellerin and Cazorla coming in for Chambers, Walcott and Ramsey.
With the formidable presence of Toulalan and Kondogbia marshalling the Monaco midfield, are Arsene Wenger's options in the middle of the park a tad light?
Monaco meanwhile have a couple of faces back in their squad tonight. Both Jeremy Toulalan and Ricardo Carvalho missed the first leg through suspension and injury respectively, but the veterans are both in contention to start tonight.
Powerful midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia and Belgian winger Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco are also likely to feature. The duo, who both scored in north London, missed Friday's league victory over Bastia with injuries, but returned to training on Monday.
Arsenal's attempt to make history won't be helped by a handful of absences in their squad. Jack Wilshere remains out with an ankle problem while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is facing a month out with a hamstring injury. Mikel Artrtea also remains sidelined along with January arrival Gabriel Paulista, who is still struggling with a hamstring problem of his own.
The job at hand for Arsenal this evening is pretty straight forward: make Champions League history. No team in this competition has ever turned around a two-goal deficit away from home in the second leg of a knock out tie. Having been humiliated by Monaco in north London last month, that is exactly what they must to do tonight to ensure there is an English presence in the quarter-finals.
The Gunners must score three goals this evening to ensure they have any chance of progressing tonight against the meanest defence in Ligue 1. The last time Monaco conceded three goals at home? Three and a half years ago.
Our focus will be on Arsenal's attempts to save their own and the Premier League's blushes this evening but we will also keep you updated on all the action from the Vicente Calderon where Atletico Madrid are aiming to fight back from 1-0 down against Bayer Leverkusen.
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