Leonardo Jardim demanded more respect for his Monaco side as they head into their Champions League quarterfinal first leg tie at Juventus.
Last summer's departures of Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez left many predicting Monaco would do little more than make up the numbers in the group stage, never mind reach the knockout stages.
However, Jardim, 40, not only guided his squad through a section featuring Leverkusen, Benfica and Zenit St Petersburg to finish group winners, but then masterminded a shock defeat of Arsenal in the Last 16.
Despite their triumph against the Gunners, few give last season's Ligue 1 runners-up much of a chance of making further progress against runaway Serie A leaders Juve, but before Tuesday's first leg in Turin, Jardim told media his side deserve to be held in higher esteem.
"Our team is in the Champions League quarterfinals on merit. We finished top of the group, we played and beat Arsenal in the last 16, so I think we deserve the respect to be seen as a big team," expained the Portuguese, who took over from Claudio Ranieri last summer.
Jardim did acknowledge the Bianconeri would provide a stiff test.
"Juve are stronger than Arsenal, they're in the quarterfinals, unlike Arsenal," he said. "They're a team with great quality and a lot of experience. All the players at Juve have a great CV. They're the favourites. We're going to start our game as normal, by respecting our opponents."
Jardim will make a late decision on whether to include captain Jeremy Toulalan and former Champions League winner Ricardo Carvalho as the experienced pair struggle to overcome injuries.
Jardim, whose side moved into third place -- their highest position of the season -- in Ligue 1 last weekend thanks to a 3-0 win at Caen, is likely to start with Dimitar Berbatov leading the line, but the experienced former Manchester United forward will probably be supported by precocious talents Anthony Martial and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco.
Martial, 19, has scored six goals in his last six league outings, including the opener against Caen, while Ferreira-Carrasco, 21, caused Arsenal's back four myriad problems with his pace and trickery after coming off the bench in the first leg before scoring his team's decisive third goal at the Emirates Stadium.
Italian defender Andrea Raggi conceded Monaco start as underdogs, but he is confident the promising youngsters' insouciance will allow them to wreak havoc at the Juventus Stadium.
"Our strength is our squad," the versatile former Bologna man said. "The pressure is on Juve. I think the young players are going to have a great game tomorrow. Psychologically, they're very relaxed. They don't feel any stress."