Club legends including Arsène Wenger were in the stands but Adi Hütter’s youthful side offered more than nostalgia

By Luke Entwistle for Get French Football News

There was just cause for Adi Hütter to feel a little intimidated on Saturday evening. Not because of the calibre of opponent that awaited his Monaco side, but on account of the onlookers in the stands. Between the club president, Dmitry Rybolovlev, and Prince Albert II in the VIP box and Hütter on the touchline sat a cast of managerial club legends, including Arsène Wenger, Gérard Banide, Claude Puel and Leonardo Jardim – the latter being the last to win the Ligue 1 title with Les Monégasques.

Wenger and co were invited to Saturday’s home fixture against struggling Montpellier as part of the Principality club’s centenary celebrations. They spent much of the afternoon reminiscing with former teammates and colleagues at the club’s La Turbie performance centre, perched on the French hills that surround the microstate. Old memories (and old scores) from bygone eras were rekindled in an overdose of nostalgia.