Arsenal vs Monaco: Arsene Wenger can take winning habit into Monaco challenge in the Champions League

The sides meet at the Emirates on Wednesday night

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Arsenal prepared for their Champions League game against Monaco with a completely different footballing test. At Selhurst Park on Saturday they came under intense aerial bombardment which they held off just long enough to win the game 2-1.

On Wednesday, at the Emirates, they will play a very different game, against a canny, disciplined Monaco side who will be far less quick to launch the ball into the box. Arsène Wenger, though, speaking after his team nearly threw away a 2-0 lead against Crystal Palace, said his team would take this confidence back into Europe.

“It is good preparation to win a game,” Wenger said. “You recover more quickly when you win. But physically, it was very demanding.”

Wenger was impressed by the resilience of his players, who survived the late scare of Glenn Murray pulling one goal back and nearly adding another. “The spirit is there,” he said. “We want to keep that because we have been to some very tough places. We have fought like mad to come back in a strong position in the league. Not to win at Palace would have been disastrous.”

Disaster averted, Arsenal can now focus on trying to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, although Wenger is full of respect for the Ligue 1 side he managed from 1987 to 1994.

“The last 16 in recent years has been super-tough, but this is a 50-50 game,” he said. “Monaco are very tight defensively. So it’s two good teams. For us, it is a tricky but possible tie.”

Monaco started slowly after a difficult summer, but Leonardo Jardim has got them well-organised and Wenger knows they will be difficult to break down. “They have followed a similar pattern to us,” he said. “They have come back in their championship. So their confidence will be high.”