Twitter Reacts to Arsenal's Champions League Defeat to Monaco

Arsenal went into Wednesday's Champions League match with Monaco as veterans of the Round of 16 phase, having reached the knockout stage for the 15th consecutive season. However, The Gunners would also have been aware that they have faltered at the Round of 16 stage in the last four tournaments. 

They ended the evening with the real possibility of extending that run of last-16 exits to five. 

The main narrative thread in the pre-match build-up concerned Arsene Wenger meeting his former employers Les Rouges et Blancs for the first time in a competitive environment. As such, the hosts were kind enough to provide attendees at The Emirates with a cardboard cutout of Le Professeur in the match day programme. They promised to retweet the best fan images...

By the time kick-off came, they hadn't retweeted a single one. Oops.

But, The Guardian's Barney Ronay produced a solid effort...

Cardboard cutouts aside, there were also plenty of pictures circulating of Mr Wenger from his time as Monaco manager...

As the game kicked off, none of Arsenal's big stars were trending, but one man at the Emirates was: A certain Bulgarian with a penchant for cigarettes, being offside and moving very slowly...

"

I'm playing the Berbatov touches the ball drinking game tonight. I expect to not even open the fridge.

— Ruzzle Kicks (@antonsays) February 25, 2015"

"

"Found berbatov in an offside position" MEMORIES

— darren alex (@dazcoates) February 25, 2015"

There was also much talk about Monaco's travelling contingent, who were in good spirits and very colour coordinated. Many were impressed with the sheer volume of supporters the French side brought, considering they have the worst attendance levels in Ligue 1...

"

Message from Monaco fans to Arsene. pic.twitter.com/E23b6tacLe

— Copa90 (@Copa90) February 25, 2015"

The visitors also risked the ire of their hosts by draping their livery over a statue of one of their former players outside the stadium...

As the first half an hour of action passed and there wasn't a great deal of action on the field to discuss, attentions turned to the atmosphere at The Emirates. Or the lack thereof...

"

Imagine the atmosphere at The Emirates if that lot actually made any noise...

— |Joel Weston| (@weston_joel) February 25, 2015"

Many suspected the crowd had been subdued by the dawdling performance of the home team throughout the first half...

The slow pace led many to use the dreaded "b" word...

"

Jheeze the Arsenal fans are so quiet man this game bores me

— Mr High Definition (@rangznash) February 25, 2015"

In the 38th minute, however, the Gunners were woken from their slumbers when Monaco took the lead. Geoffrey Kondogbia—in plenty of space—received a ball from Joao Moutinho on the right—also in plenty of space—and saw his shot his the net via a big deflection off of Per Mertesacker. Many were quick to blame the BFG and goalkeeper David Ospina for the goal...

"

Don't blame Ospina. That mug Terry would have faced that ball square on. Mertesacker bottled it once again

— Ken Livingstone (@KennethBrav) February 25, 2015"

At half-time, there was plenty of attention being paid to Mesut Ozil's performance, thanks in part to co-commentator Gary Neville's dim view of the German midfielder...

"

Not going to happen at Arsenal for Ozil is it. Hate seeing when it happens but he’s got that Torres lost look about him.

— Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore) February 25, 2015"

"

Ozil's first half heat map. #AFCvMON pic.twitter.com/Zhn2oAcizm

— Football Tips (@footballtips) February 25, 2015"

Arsenal came out of the blocks very brightly in the second half, but disaster struck in the 52nd minute as Monaco doubled their advantage. Of course, the goalscorer was Bulgaria's coolest cucumber...

"

Remember when I said that being drawn against Monaco just gives Arsenal an extra-hilarious way of being knocked out of the Champions League?

— Luke Aaron Moore (@lukeymoore) February 25, 2015"

Olivier Giroud had a golden chance to put Arsenal back in the game in the 57th minute, but he ended up trending on Twitter because of his dreadful miss...

"

Fernando Giroud pic.twitter.com/z0pB8VZMA2

— Football Trolls (@Footballltrolls) February 25, 2015"

The French striker was duly replaced by Theo Walcott, who also managed to conspire against his own team by blocking a goal-bound shot...

As the game began to wind down, there was much praise for a Monaco side whom many had written off before the first whistle...

As the clock ticked over the 90-minute mark, The Gunners were given a glimmer of hope when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain provided a wonderful finish...

However, the Ox only had a few moments to enjoy hero status as he proceeded to give the ball away to Bernardo Silva, and then failed to track Yannick Ferreira Carrasco as he charged towards goal and made it 3-1...

The game finished with a well-deserved 3-1 victory for the winners and a rousing triumph for a former Tottenham player...

Follow me @RyanJayBailey