For the second time this season, one of French football's elite clubs heads to Emirates Stadium for Champions League action as we host Monaco in our latest league-stage encounter.
It will be the first competitive match between the sides for nine years, and the side from the principality have enjoyed a resurgence over the past 18 months by returning to European football's top table courtesy of a second-place finish in Ligue 1.
But who masterminded that success, and which players are the dangermen for us to look out for on Wednesday night? Here is our in-depth guide to our next opponents:
The history
This season marks Monaco's centenary, having been formed in November 1924. They are one of French football’s most successful teams, having won eight league titles, five French Cups and a League Cup.
It took them until 1953 to reach the top-flight, and seven years later came their first piece of silverware since turning professional in 1933 in the form of the French Cup. One year later came their first league championship, and a double arrived in 1963 before a period of decline saw them yo-yo between the top two tiers.
However by the 1980s they had returned to prominence, and Arsene Wenger’s arrival as manager brought them further success as they won the league title in his first season in charge in 1988, as well as a French Cup three years later. He also took them to their first European final but they lost out on the 1992 European Cup Winners Cup to Werder Bremen.
Financial problems and boardroom changes destabilised the club at the turn of the millennium, and despite a run to the Champions League final in 2003/04, they suffered relegation in 2011. However, a takeover by Dmitry Rybolovlev helped the club recover and by 2017 they won their eighth and last league title, spearheaded by the goals of academy product Kylian Mbappe.
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Arsène Wenger: The Monaco years](https://www.arsenal.com/news/arsene-wenger-monaco-years?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
THE STADIUM
Monaco play their games at the Stade Louis II, the only football stadium in the country given its small size. Originally opened in 1985, it is most notable for its distinctive nine arches at one of the ground and has a capacity of 16,360, which is almost half of the country's population.
Underneath the stadium is a sports arena that plays host to basketball, volleyball and handball and can hold concerts. It was the venue for all UEFA Super Cup matches between 1998 and 2012.
Last season
Having finished in a lowly sixth spot in 2022/23 and missing out on European football, the Monegasque club could only concentrate on domestic affairs which aided them as they finished in second spot in Ligue 1, nine points behind Paris Saint-Germain.
The early weeks of the season saw them top the table, collecting six wins in their opening nine matches, but an inconsistent spell saw them win four of the next 11 allowing PSG to seize the initiative in the title race. Seven wins from their final eight matches saw them finish with a flourish to overhaul Brest and seize second spot - their best finish since 2017/18.
Their resurgence was spearheaded by the goals of veteran striker Wissam Ben Yedder who struck 20 times in all competitions, but he departed the club after his contract expired in the summer.
The manager
Austrian Adi Hutter was installed as Monaco boss at the start of last season. He made his name in his homeland by winning the domestic double with Red Bull Salzburg in 2014/15 - a side he represented for seven years as a player. He also had a successful stint in charge of Young Boys where he won the Swiss league before moving into German football with Eintracht Frankfurt.
He guided them into the Europa League in 2019/20 where he clinched a group-stage win at Emirates Stadium en-route to the semi-finals to land him Coach of the Year accolades. After three seasons he joined Borussia Monchengladbach, but that lasted just a year and after a brief hiatus, he guided Monaco back into the Champions League in his first campaign at the helm.
The squad
The most familiar face to our supporters will be Folarin Balogun who switched from north London to the principality in August 2023, and ended his first season with seven league goals. Swiss striker Breel Embolo has recovered from a lengthy injury, while former Liverpool striker Takumi Minamino is another option up front.
Russian international midfielder Aleksandr Golovin regularly chips in with goals, as does teenage winger Eliesse Ben Seghir [above] who has come through from the academy to win full Moroccan caps. He is Monaco's top scorer this term with five, while another youngster in Maghnes Akliouche netted eight times last year from attacking midfield.
Senegalese winger Krepin Diatta was named the best young player at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations while his fellow countryman Lamine Camara and Ivorian Wilfried Singo have both won the tournament in recent years. Right-back Vanderson has won four caps for Brazil since breaking into their squad last year.
Polish goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki is an international teammate of Jakub Kiwior, while Denis Zakaria has been to five major tournaments with Switzerland and also briefly had a stint with Chelsea. Centre-backs Mohammed Salisu and Thilo Kehrer also have Premier League experience at Southampton and West Ham United respectively.
Season so far
The Ligue 1 season is 14 games in, and Monaco currently occupy third place, level on points with Marseille but trailing PSG by five. Six victories in the first seven saw them lead the table but back-to-back defeats to Nice and Angers stunted that momentum. They beat Champions League surprise package Brest at the end of November but a late Mason Greenwood penalty saw Marseille clinch a 2-1 win at the Stade Velodrome, before returning to form last weekend by beating Toulouse 2-0.
However Hutter's side have been highly impressive in the Champions League and like ourselves have amassed 10 points from their opening five matches. They began by beating Barcelona 2-1, albeit the Spanish giants playing 80 minutes with 10 men, before drawing 2-2 with our future opponents Dinamo Zagreb. Red Star Belgrade were then thrashed 5-1, before a late Kehrer goal secured a 1-0 win in Bologna.
They led 2-1 against Benfica a fortnight ago heading into the final six minutes despite seeing Singo red-carded, but two late goals from the Portuguese side ended the unbeaten start.
The previous meetings
Our only competitive meetings with Monaco came back in March 2015 in the Champions League round of 16, when we fell to a 3-1 home loss before recording a 2-0 win at the Stade Louis II thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey, but ultimately we exited the competition on the away goals rule.
We did meet at the start of last season in the Emirates Cup during pre-season, as we clinched the silverware courtesy of a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in north London when Eddie Nketiah got our goal.
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