Football
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Olivier Giroud tells Arsenal not to underestimate Monaco challenge

Olivier Giroud has warned his Arsenal teammates that Monaco will be no pushovers in the Champions League and said it will be "special" for manager Arsene Wenger to face his former club.

Ex-Montpellier forward Giroud, 28, told L'Equipe that last season's Ligue 1 runners-up would present a tougher round-of-16 challenge than some pundits had predicted.

Although the principality club lost Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez in the summer and have shown only patchy form this season, he said: "I'm not relieved [about the draw], no.

"It's true that we have not been spoiled by the draw in recent seasons. Since I arrived at Arsenal, we have come up against Bayern twice in the last 16. That was a very tough draw.

"I have a friend who called me and said: 'Oh, it's good, a French team, you're lucky!' meaning: 'It's going to be easy.' Well, we'll have to see after the game."

The striker said he believed Monaco "are a good team, even if they don't have a lot of Champions League experience," and added: "It'll be special for Arsene Wenger to go back to the club where he started as a coach.

"But he handles those sorts of situations well. He's calm, but it will certainly be something for him to return to Monaco, that's for sure."

Arsenal have had an erratic season so far, but this week beat Galatasary 4-1 in their final group game before defeating Newcastle at home in the Premier League by the same scoreline.

"There have been two wins this week, and that's good. It's now up to us to be a little more consistent to climb the table," defender Mathieu Debuchy told RMC.

"We feel good. The team is performing well for the moment, in spite of quite a few injuries. That augurs well for the future."

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