Complacency and an air of arrogance cost Arsenal in the 2014/15 Champions League as the celebrations of drawing Monaco in the round of 16 were short-lived.
Arsenal are challenging on all four fronts, and this time, there’s genuine belief that Mikel Arteta’s side can win it all.
It’s easier said than done, of course, but it’s also a testament to how hard the Arsenal squad have worked throughout the season.
It’s equally a show of how much harder Arsenal need to work to get the job over the line, starting in the Champions League on Wednesday night against Bayer Leverkusen.
Arsenal have been backed to progress in the Champions League beyond the round of 16, but that only takes me back to being a teenager watching the Gunners get exposed by Monaco.
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Arsenal’s arrogance against Monaco in 2014/15 Champions League is a lesson Mikel Arteta needs to relay today
Amid a decade of being haunted by the round of 16, I was one of many to be overjoyed when Arsenal drew Monaco in the 2014/15 knockouts.
There was a feeling of, finally, we could clear this round of 16-shaped hurdle and progress deeper into the Champions League, but I didn’t expect the squad to carry this feeling into the tie.
The first leg was a nightmare: Monaco arrived as the underdogs and left as the favourites, winning 3-1 at the Emirates against all odds.
It meant that, like clockwork, the second leg was out of reach before a ball was kicked, and that played out, as Arsenal’s 2-0 win in the second leg wasn’t enough, watching Monaco advance.
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The arrogance in the air was astounding; we’d considered Monaco as a stepping stone to the quarter-finals, completely dismissing their presence.
The French side certainly felt that, as after the game, Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim reflected on the confidence Arsenal had adopted.
“Arsenal were really happy to play Monaco as we were supposed to be one of the weakest teams. We qualified from pot four. All the teams in the last 16 wanted to play against Monaco. Maybe Arsenal thought they had qualified already.”
Jardim’s comments were blunt and justified, so naturally, it only makes me worry when throwing things forward to now.
We’ve all looked at Arsenal’s route to the Champions League final, and we’re all subtly wondering who will score that goal to send us to the final. But we’re nowhere near it yet.
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Bayer Leverkusen stand in our way first and foremost. It’s not an easy game, and they cannot be overlooked. The lesson from the Monaco disaster must reinforce that.
There is a positive in that Arteta will not accept complacency from his players in any contest, which limits the chance of a Monaco repeat quite severely.
What happened on that night 11 years ago was something everyone wanted to forget very quickly, but over a decade on, it does not escape my thoughts whenever we hit the round of 16.
A lesson was learned that night, and we need to see that when Bayer Leverkusen line up against the Gunners.
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