Ousmane Dembele has told L'Equipe he expects Borussia Dortmund's Champions League quarterfinal tie with free-scoring Monaco to be full of goals.
Only Barcelona have scored more goals in the Champions League than Dortmund this season, while Monaco have netted 88 goals in just 31 Ligue 1 matches this term -- a record matched only by Barca across Europe's top five leagues.
The pair meet in the first leg of their last-eight encounter at the Westfalenstadion on Tuesday, and Dembele says he talked to the contingent of Monaco players who joined him on international duty with France last month, with all agreeing it should be an exciting affair.
"We said that it was going to be good matches, with a lot of goals," he said. "Well, let's hope so. We didn't make too much fun out of each other. There's respect and we're cautious. We're waiting for the outcome of the two games to start hostilities. The Monaco players said they're looking forward to seeing the 'Yellow Wall.'
"Oh yes, Benjamin [Mendy] and I poked fun at each other a bit. He promised to calm me down with the first contact. I promised him that if he got booked with the first tackle, I would provoke him the whole game."
Dembele said his inside knowledge of football in his native France has not been much called upon by Dortmund.
"A little, but they know Monaco here already, the way the team plays and the players like Bernardo Silva, Kylian Mbappe and Benjamin Mendy," he said. "I watch some Ligue 1 games and for me Monaco is a team that has all the cards in hand to become French champions."
Monaco will know all about Dembele, who has enjoyed an incredible rise since making his senior debut in November 2015. After shining for Rennes last season, the 19-year-old went on to sign for Dortmund last summer after speaking to BVB boss Thomas Tuchel.
"I don't regret my choice at all," he said. "I feel good in Dortmund. It was a choice I thought about, that I took early last season, because I had talked to the coach very early. I had only scored two or three goals with Rennes, but he told me he wanted me. After listening to him talk, I told him I would sign for Dortmund whatever happened, that my choice was made.
"There was interest from other clubs after that, but I had given my word and made my choice and didn't want to come back on it."
Dembele has featured in 39 games for Dortmund this season and he says he is not surprised by the rapid progress he has made with the Bundesliga outfit.
"Frankly no, I expected to go through all that, because I set myself the aim of playing as many matches as possible and thanks to my performances, that's the case, so I can only be happy," he said. "Having said that, you always have to have in mind the idea of continuing your adaptation, improving and continuing playing good matches. I wanted to do better than at Rennes.
"I'm lucky to be having my first full season, which allows me to get more and more experience. But I'm going to keep working. The only truth is out there on the pitch. When you're good on the pitch, in life in general, with your teammates and others, everything goes well. I'm lucky to have been able to settle in more easily thanks to Auba [Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang] and Raphael [Guerreiro]."
Monaco, who retained a three-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 courtesy of a 1-0 win over Angers on Saturday, come into Tuesday's game with some selection headaches.
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Midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko is suspended, while full-back Djibril Sidibe, who would have been tasked with helping stop Dembele, is hospitalised with appendicitis. Sidibe, who had also been struggling with a rib problem, appears certain to miss the first leg, though Monaco have not yet confirmed his absence.