Veteran striker Dimitar Berbatov demonstrated his enduring quality by inspiring Monaco to a surprise 3-1 victory over Arsenal on Wednesday, priming the principality team for a place in the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in 11 years.

Arsenal's first-leg loss came against the lowest-ranked team remaining in the competition - and which was also depleted by injuries - ensuring a miserable night for Arsene Wenger against his former side.

"No one really thought this result would have been possible, but we achieved it," Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim said through an interpreter.

Monaco hadn't even managed to score in the first hour of the six group stage games, but stunned the Emirates Stadium by taking the lead in the 38th minute. It did owe much to good fortune, with Geoffrey Kondogbia's deflected strike wrong-footing goalkeeper David Ospina.

But Monaco punished Arsenal's sloppiness eight minutes into the second half, launching a counterattack which the 34-year-old Berbatov completed on his return to London - where he played for Tottenham and Fulham.

Although Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's curling strike in stoppage time briefly gaveArsenal hope going into the second leg on March 17, he then gave the ball away inside his own half. Monaco went on another rapid break and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco restored the two-goal cushion.

"The second and third goals, we were suicidal," Wenger said. "It looks like we have lost our nerves and our rationality on the pitch."

In the night's other match, Bayer Leverkusen beat 10-man Atletico Madrid 1-0 in Germany.

It was an impressive night for Monaco, which last reached the round of 16 in 2005 - a year after reaching the final. It was also deploying a makeshift back-four thatArsenal couldn't exploit.

Monaco scored three goals in north London after only netting four times in the group stage, when it qualified as surprise winners.

Arsenal is consistent in qualifying for the Champions League, playing in Europe's elite competition for the 17th successive season, but it has never won the European Cup and has been eliminated in the round of the 16 for the last four seasons.

The intent was positive early on, but the finishing was clearly lacking. Danny Welbeck hooked the ball over in the 2nd minute after turning Elderson Echiejile on the defender's first game in three weeks. Mesut Ozil then set up the unmarked Alexis Sanchez, who sent his shot over the bar.

Monaco's first goal in the first half in Europe this season turned the game in the visitors' favor. Kondogbia was left in space to receive Joao Moutinho's pass centrally and a hopeful shot deflected off Per Mertesacker into the net.

Arsenal was presented with an early chance to equalize in the second half. Sanchez cut the ball back to Olivier Giroud, whose subsequent shot missed the target. Giroud then headed over from Santi Cazorla's free kick, thumping the turf in annoyance.

Berbatov had no such trouble finishing with a composed shot after Anthony Martial brought the ball forward.

"We wanted to win more than them and were fighting all over the pitch," said Berbatov, who hadn't scored in a month.

Giroud had scored three in his last two games, but was wasteful in the extreme here. After Sanchez's shot was parried, Giroud blazed the ball over and he was soon replaced by Theo Walcott on the hour.

Oxlade-Chamberlain's inability to retain possession after scoring allowed Bernardo Silva to set Ferreira-Carrasco on the run that led to Monaco's third goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

"It was a horrible night," Wenger said.

The 3-1 loss completes a difficult set of first legs for English teams. After Chelsea's 1-1 draw at Paris Saint-Germain last week, Manchester City was beaten 2-1 by Barcelona on Tuesday.

Hakan Calhanoglu's second-half strike gave Bayer Leverkusen a 1-0 home win over 10-man Atletico Madrid in the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday, leaving it all to play for in the second leg.

"You could see from the first minute that we wanted to make an impression in the Champions League, to put ourselves in a good position to get through and I think we did that," Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt said. "We deserved to win."

Karim Bellarabi set up Calhanoglu in the 57th minute. It looked like the Germany midfielder wasted a good chance when he opted not to shoot, but he rolled the ball back with the underside of his boot for Calhanoglu to control with his first touch and fire under the crossbar with his next.

"We were clearly the better team. I just released the shot," Calhanoglu said.

Substitute Fernando Torres thought he'd equalized with a header from a corner in the 75th, but the ball went out of play before coming back in.

Atletico's Tiago was dismissed in the 77th with a second yellow card for sliding in on Bellarabi. He earned his first in the first half for breaking up a counterattack with a cynical foul on Josip Drmic.

Diego Simeone sent out the oldest Atletico side to play in the Champions League with an average age of 28 years, 260 days and it was a lackluster display from last year's beaten finalists, who can be grateful not to have lost by more.

"The outcome puts us in a good position," Simeone said.

Leverkusen captain Lars Bender fired wide from a promising break in the seventh minute, Mario Mandzukic cleared off the line, and the Spanish champions were scrambling again shortly afterward with the ball ricocheting around the penalty area.

Leverkusen defender Emir Spahic came closest in the 26th, when his effort from distance crashed back off the top left corner, before Miguel Angel Moya punched away from Drmic.

Tempers became frayed midway through the half, with angry words between Schmidt and the visiting coaches following a foul on Atletico captain Gabi.

"They were constantly provoking from the bench, and they send this guy to create trouble. I wasn't going to be bullied," Schmidt said of German Burgos, the Atletico assistant coach.

"I have no idea what the Leverkusen coach was saying. I went over to defend Burgos, who's my friend," Simeone said.

On the pitch, the home side was grateful to goalkeeper Bernd Leno for punching the ball away from Antoine Griezmann, and again before the interval, when he produced a brilliant save to save an acrobatic effort from Tiago.

"We showed reaction to some not so good games. They played a lot of long balls and set pieces but we defended well," Leno said.

Calhanoglu sparked a scrappy second half into life with his superb finish. Leverkusen should have made it 2-0 shortly afterward, only for a wayward pass to let the stretched Atletico defense off the hook. Leno blocked Torres, then Drmic tested Moya at the other end.

More chances were missed after Tiago's sending off. Leverkusen may yet rue them in the second leg on March 17.

"Away goals are so important that a goal late in the match would have made our situation much worse," Schmidt said. "We didn't allow them many chances. We had some more chances but it is important that we did not concede. We can live with this result."