Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim explains why he refused to shake hands with Arsene Wenger
Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim has revealed that he refused to shake hands with his Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger as the Gunners boss gave him a snub after the first leg at Emirates Stadium on February 26. The French side had thrashed the hosts 3-1 to set up a commanding lead in the Round of 16 clash.
"In the first leg, when I wanted to shake his hand, he did not thank me, so this time, even though Arsenal did everything possible to go through, I chose not to thank him,” Jardim said.
Despite Arsenal winning the second leg 2-0 on Tuesday night, they were still eliminated from the competition on the basis of the away goal rule.
The 40-year-old also felt that Wenger had shown disrespect towards him and disagreed with the Frenchman’s comments about Monaco not being worthy winners.
"I think so and right now we are celebrating and think that Arsenal maybe did not show all the respect that they should have during the first leg. I think it is deserved, the qualification.
“We managed to take advantage of the first leg when we won 3-1,” he said. "The second leg was the match that we expected.
“It was very intense, the opponents took advantage of the mistakes we made in the transition, which is how they scored their goals.
“Nobody was expecting us to be here. It's a great reward, so we have to give credit to the players for what they did,” he added.
Teams will want to play us in Champions League quarter-final: Jardim
He further said that most teams would want to take on Monaco in the quarter-finals.
"In the quarter-final draw, all the teams will want to play Monaco. For me it will be the first time I have experienced the quarterfinals of the Champions League,” he said.
Monaco forward Dimitar Berbatov admitted that it was a collective effort that helped the side progress through and also said that they were a bit fortunate during the game as well.
“We fought as a team today. We had a bit of luck, but we are through,” he said.