Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has pinpointed where Arsenal lost the game against Monaco last night.
Monaco were big underdogs travelling to the Emirates Stadium for the first leg of their Champions League last 16 clash against Arsenal, with the Gunners tipped to steamroller the principality outfit.
However, they were in inspired form at the Emirates Stadium and crushed Arsenal with a 3-1 victory which has been widely hailed as well deserved. Now Arsenal need to score three goals at the Stade Louis II to stand any chance of progressing to the quarter-finals.
For Houllier, the game was lost in midfield for Arsene Wenger's men, with Arsenal having too many attack-minded players who paid no attention to defensive duties in the middle of the park.
"The imbalance in favour of Monaco in midfield [was the reason they won]", Houllier told L'Equipe.
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"ASM played with three central midfielders who stayed very close, also supported by men out wide.
"Opposite was [Santi] Cazola and [Francis] Coquelin, who is not a pure defensive midfielder, and was not really supported by three attacking players lined up [ahead of him]: [Danny] Welbeck often appears in the role of a centre forward, [Mesut] Ozil is not the most defensive player in the world and [Alexis] Sanchez was a bit lacklustre.
"Result: There was a terrible gap between the attacking and defensive midfielders for Arsenal and it was as if Monaco were, in this area, five men against two.
"This is where the balance of power played against the Londoners. Arsenal were caught in a vice."
Monaco will aim to repeat the trick against the Gunners next month in the return leg at the Stade Louis II.
Leonardo Jardim's side conceded the fewest goals of any team in the group stage of the Champions League, while they also have the joint-best defensive record in Ligue 1, level with league leaders Lyon.
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