Arsenal’s club secretary, David Miles, admits he’d have preferred to avoid Barcelona in today’s Champions League draw but says Arsene Wenger’s squad will do their utmost to beat the reigning champions.
The Gunners, who’ve only beaten the Catalan giants once in seven attempts, will host Luis Enrique’s side on 23 February before heading to the Nou Camp on 16 March.
“On the back of the great win in Athens we were hoping for a good draw today and I think it’s the tie of the round,” Miles told BT Sport.
“It’s not going to be easy and it’s the team that most Arsenal fans would have wanted to avoid at this stage but it’s up to us to make a good fist of it.
“We’ve got our own world-class players and certainly we’ll go in for this. It should be two fantastic games and we’re very much looking forward to it.”
Elsewhere, Arsenal’s under-19s have been paired with Anderlecht in the UEFA Youth League. The youngsters must beat the Belgian side to qualify for the last 16.
We’ve done it before. Let’s do it again!
When ?
Did it in ’11
Do it in ’16
COYG!!!
You do realize we didn’t ‘do’ it in 2011, considering we were sent packing? Winning one leg doesn’t count. We’ve won one leg in four of the last five years for that matter.
RVP’s first-half sending off in the second leg was a game-changer though – it was always going to be so against the best possession side in history. I can’t take the result seriously on that basis – a fact made worse by the reality that we were one last minute Bendtner howler away from winning the tie. Also that Barca team was stronger than the current one, and this Arsenal team is stronger than the previous. Messi/Suarez/Neymar is all well and good, but their 10/11 squad ranks amongst the greatest of all time. No getting beaten or throwing away a… Read more »
Remember the 2011 team ; http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/9397008.stm
Echo the replies to Hoosier Gunner’s comment, but share his sentiments too.
I think everyone will agree with me when I say we need someone better than Flamini to deal with Barcelona’s attacking prowess.
On paper, we didn’t have a great attack back then but performed pretty well(except for TGSTEL’s howler) . We should be able to do well if we keep everyone fresh until then. I believe!
The home leg will be key here..if we can take a 1-0 or even a 0-0 to their place, anything is possible..come what may we should not allow ourselves to get into a situation in the first leg where we would need to chase the tie and the Camp Nou..or else we’re done for..first leg result favouring us, if we can play like the away team in the second leg, that is let barca bring the game to us and hit them with counters, I reckon we could get their defence nervous enough to make errors..the impetus is on them,… Read more »
I prefer to give Barca such a big thumping in the first leg, that the second leg is a formality.
Where’s the final this year? Might book my flights now, get ’em cheap like.
San Siro
I did that when it was in Munich. Four nights hotel and flights for £200 as we booked it Christmas the year before.
Unfortunately, the shit bricks in West London won it that year. A shitty tarnish to an otherwise quality holiday.
lol…..i can imagine….sympathies mate, i wouldn’t enjoy watching chelshit win either!
But they did hilariously thus deny spurs a place after those fuckers finally, for one, reached the pinicle of there hopes and dreams by finishing 4th.
That did make things better. And terry missing the final.
And you know what, I didn’t overly mind seeing drogba clip in that winner. He was a big man that night, put in a world class performance. It was impressive.
that’s the spirit
I believe!
Don’t believe we’ll progress against such a dominant front three. Just outstanding forwards.
Still, football has its moments.
..and we have Cech this time round. Dare to dream…
Wenger Knows how to beat Barca… its just its very hard to execute.
Its how we beat Man City last year – we need our coq back – how long is the refractory period?
Doubt he will be back in time…
Doublesito 98, I think you’d find that the man of the match in that victory at Citeh was one No.19. If we had the usual central midfield – him along with the Coq – I’d have been quietly confident. However I still believe that we can give them a match, provided that we have (as close to) a full squad as possible by then. They are susceptible to pace and may crack, faced with our fighting spirit. At end of November, Le Coq was supposed to be 12 weeks away, suggesting a return by the end of February. Looks like… Read more »
I know this may sound crazy but in a way it may be better we start out against Barcelona. If we get knocked out by the favorites right away it will then allow us to focus on the BPL championship without having to play extra games and then getting eliminated later anyway. If by some chance we beat them, then it will show us and the world we are real contenders and will be a big boost to team psyche.
BPL?
i don’t understand, since the start it has seemed like, many fans have been wanting Arsenal to get out of UCL as soon as possible. I don’t know where you guys find the logic, “if you’re not gonna win the competition, you might as well, not play it” The Champions League is the most prestigious of competitions at the highest of levels, and as Arsenal Football Club, we have to give our best in it.
I don’t think many people felt that way from the start. But surely with injuries mounting and second place looking unlikely after the first four games it isn’t unreasonable to consider the alternatives to fielding a full strength team in those last two games?
i don’t think so. playing anything less than full strength against Barcelona basically means you’re setting out to lose. You think players like Ozil and Alexis or any other top players we hope to attract in the future are gonna like playing for us if we give up on Champions League before we have lost it?
And, would we’ve qualified if we had played anything less than the best possible squad? Playing a weakened team and still have a reasonable chance to win is hardly possible in the Premier League nowadays, much less the Champions League.
Agreed with that..don’t forget the reason we got ourselves into that horrible position after our first two games, was because we fielded weak squads for those two games!
The Bloody Premier League
ARRRSHAVINNNN!!
Sanchez will be well up for these games should be a European classic
A st Patricks day trip to barca sounds appealing. And maybe a little luck of the Irish also?
Yea,let’s do it again,Arshavin’s goal is my second favourite .The best? Robert Pires ‘ header against Chelsea in UCL more than 10 years ago
Everything depends upon number of 1st team players available at that time. Will Ozil last by then? I doubt that.
Little bit unnecessary with the Paris photo there, Mr. Allen? Not what you want to see first thing in the morning. Got me choking up over my cornflakes.
Both teams have their strength in the attack. Barcelona’s defence is considerably weaker than their fabolous forwards, so a tactical move – typical Wenger at that – would be to try to keep the game on their half.