Robert Pires has told setanta.com that playing against Arsenal will give him the chance to say 'goodbye' to the Gunners fans.
Villarreal v Arsenal is live on Setanta USA on Tuesday for Stateside viewers with a kick off at 2:45pm ET.
Villarreal entertain Arsenal in the Champions League quarterfinals, with the first leg on Tuesday, and Pires cannot wait to face his old team.
The Frenchman, who spent six glorious seasons at Highbury, has declared that facing the club where he enjoyed the best years of his career is going to be an emotional experience.
And being back in London will give him the chance to salute the Arsenal fans, something that he could not do when he left the club in summer of 2006.
"I have always had a tremendous relationship with the Arsenal fans and these games will be the occasion for me to say goodbye to them," Pires told setanta.com.
"Not having been able to say goodbye to them is a pain to me. I wanted to have the chance to thank the Highbury public for their support, but I could not do it because my last game was the Champions League final with Barcelona.
"Then I announced my departure to Villarreal three days later and did not see them again. Sincerely, this draw is emotional to me, and fills me with nostalgia as well, that is for sure."
Pires deeply believes in the Yellow Submarine's chances of dumping Arsenal out of the Champions League, and he said: "Sincerely, we can beat them, for sure. We would not come on the pitch if we were not convinced that we are good enough to go through.
"To sum up, I would say that I expect a spectacular game between two teams that look like each other a lot. Hopefully we will see many goals."
Villarreal midfielder Marcos Senna is a doubt for Tuesday's game, and Pires has labelled the Spain international the best player of the last European championship.
"Ariel Ibagaza will be back, but we are waiting to know if Marcos Senna will be fit," Pires said. "He and the medical staff will do their best to make him available for the Arsenal game.
"If I had been part of the jury I would have given Senna the man of the tournament award at Euro 2008.
"He is our key player, so important in our system and us defenders or attackers can always rely on him."
