Arsenal have great chance to reach Champions League quarter finals for first time in four years, but Arsene Wenger is not taking his former club Monaco lightly 

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The real trip down memory lane for Arsene Wenger comes in three weeks when he makes his first return to Monaco.

On Wednesday night, however, it’s down to business. The Champions League last 16 draw has, finally, been kind to Arsenal.

The romantic connotations surrounding the two-legged encounter are inescapable. Wenger against Monaco, where he was the club’s longest-serving manager, makes for an interesting sub-plot. 

Arsene Wenger is preparing to face his former club Monaco, where he is still remembered fondly

The Frenchman looked relaxed ahead of Arsenal's most straightforward last-16 tie in several years

Wenger is still Monaco's longest-serving manager after spending seven years in the principality

Unusually, Wenger conducted a separate briefing for French journalists at the club’s London Colney HQ, an indication of how much this tie has captured the imagination in his homeland.

But the bottom line is this match-up gives the Frenchman a strong chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals following four successive last-16 defeats.

Two defeats against Bayern Munich and losses against AC Milan and Barcelona have called into question the club’s pretensions to European superpower status.

This time Arsenal are favourites to progress to the last eight — so how will they cope? Wenger insists the tie is evenly poised: ‘50-50’, he said on Tuesday. But the Arsenal manager isn’t kidding anyone. A quarter-final berth is there for the taking and no amount of nostalgia is clouding the coach’s judgment.

‘I am professional, I am competitive and as much as I respect Monaco I am focused on doing my job well,’ he said.

‘I give my best to win games; respect for your opponents means you give your best. Even if I play against my brother it’s the same. That’s part of our job. 

Chile forward Alexis Sanchez gets on the ball in training as Arsenal prepare to face Monaco on Wednesday

Wenger says it is '50-50' who will go through against Monaco, who include former Spurs star Dimitar Berbatov

Arsenal have conceded early goals in the last 16 three times in the last four years, including last season

WATCHING BRIEF

‘Is this the match of my life? Not at all. The real emotion will be when we play in Monaco, when you pass by the Corniche on the bus to the ground.

‘Is this an easier draw than Barca or Bayern? That you never know. On paper Barcelona are a stronger team than Monaco. But it’s always a question of circumstances.

‘Easy is a word that you have to ban in the Champions League. Every time we were in there it was hard-earned wins.

‘It is always a one-goal difference — you go out for one goal, you stay in for one goal and that means you have to work very hard.’

After seven years with Monaco, Wenger was sacked in 1994 after starting the season with five defeats in eight games — the 65-year-old’s only dismissal.

Six weeks earlier, then Monaco chairman Jean-Louis Campora refused Bayern Munich permission to speak to Wenger with a view to making the Frenchman their new manager. Things happen for a reason, of course. After a year in Japan with Nagoya Grampus Eight, he came to north London.

We know what happened next. 

Mesut Ozil missed a penalty against Bayern Munich last season, as Arsenal crashed out at this stage

Santi Cazorla (third left) has been in fine form for Arsenal during their recent strong domestic run

January signing Gabriel chases after the ball as Wenger's men get put through their paces

‘Does being sacked by Monaco still hurt today? Not now, honestly no. But it wasn’t the lowest moment of my career,’ said Wenger. ‘The lower moments are to lose big games.

‘Being sacked, that’s part of the job. But they were special circumstances because I didn’t want to extend my contract, but I wanted to do my last year. I have no regrets because that’s how I am. But I needed to leave France.

‘I have never stopped working and if you look at the history of French coaches I am the only one who never stopped working. So I have never had the time to reflect. If I look at the history of my life, Arsenal and Monaco are the two who have been crazy enough to let me work.

Wenger looks in pensieve mood as his players have a kickaround behind him on Tuesday morning

Theo Walcott gestures during Arsenal's final session before returning to Champions League action

‘The two of them had to be brave because it wasn’t obvious for Monaco to take me on, or for Arsenal to employ me. I have a lot of respect for that.’

A big win at the Emirates on Wednesday should allow Wenger to enjoy his return to the Stade Louis II stadium next month.

But Wenger, who will be without Jack Wilshere, says he is ready to dilute his side’s usual attacking instincts against the Ligue 1 outfit.

‘We mustn’t make any mistakes, the last four times we went out against big teams, three times we conceded in the first 30 minutes.

‘It is the goals that killed us. We know we are playing against a team that absorbs pressure. That is what we have got to negotiate.’