Arsene Wenger talks about taking on Barcelona tomorrow
Arsene Wenger talks about his hopes for the match against Barcelona tomorrow, and how Arsenal needs the right balance to win. He also gives an injury update on the four players that will be missing the game.
He said that the players not playing tomorrow are Wilshere, Cazorla, Gabriel and Arteta. Though Gabriel has returned to training, Arsene hopes he’ll be ready for the match against Manchester United next Sunday.
During the press conference, Wenger spoke about the match against Barcelona and said: “We have to find the right balance between being audacious because that’s what you need to be against Barcelona, as well as strong defensively as a unit.”
Arsene on his players: “I believe all of the players I have are intelligent so we have a good opportunity to show what we have learnt. I know that individually they have exceptional talent but the only way we can do it is collectively by being resilient having great solidarity and intelligent as well. Let’s not forget that we have a good defensive record and we have a great goal keeper as well. Everybody is focused. We have to use every moment in the game where we’ll have a chance to score.”
Arsene on the recent coin-throwing incident: “I feel that for years people in the stands believe they can get away with everything, and the media played a little part in that. I believe you’re insulted regularly from the stands and without people having the feeling they can be having punished for it, it goes one step further and the incident over the weekend was for me a disgrace and not acceptable.”
Giroud on tomorrow’s match: “We want to keep the FA cup for us, three times in a row. We are in a strong position and we want to keep it up but we have big games to come. We will need to be strong all together and show a lot of strength and that’s it. We would love to beat them because they look unstoppable. We are confident, we need to be confident and play our Arsenal way. We know we can beat big teams but there is one thing for sure and we all need to be 100% and determined.”
Arsene on Barcelona: “Even when they are dominated, they are still very dangerous. They are the most efficient and when you see the other day Messi scored his 300th goal in 340 games, I’ve seen many many strikers in my life but I’ve never seen a record like that. They are top top class.”
Arsene on Messi never scoring against Cech: “I hope that will give Cech a lot of confidence. We played a CL final in 2006 and he was injured at the time and couldn’t play the final. That’s 10 years later, so it’s remarkable what he’s achieved since 2006 and now. Tomorrow, Peter Cech will start again.”
Arsene on Arsenal’s progress: “We can show what we have learnt. Last year we were favourites in our home game against Monaco. It’s the biggest upset we have known in recent years. All the other games were games I think we had a dodgy start and paid for it. No stupid fouls, no stupid red cards, we have to show that we can have a controlled and committed attitude.”
The game, which is the first leg of their last-16 tie, will be held at The Emirates Stadium on Tuesday 23rd at 7.45pm.
