QUARESMA WANTS ARSENAL VICTORY
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Porto midfielder Ricardo Quaresma has vowed his side will do their utmost to beat Arsenal on December 6 and qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League as group winners.
The Portuguese champions' 2-0 victory at CSKA Moscow on Tuesday night has thrown Group G wide open, and leaves Jesualdo Ferreira's side requiring only a point from their final showdown next month.
But Quaresma, who opened the scoring in the second minute in the Lokomotiv Stadium, wants his team to reach the knockout phase in style.
"It was an important goal. We controlled the game all the time and we proved to be a top-class team," said the Portugal international.
"It will be a complicated game against Arsenal, but we promise to play our best and we'll do everything to win it."
Former Barcelona winger Quaresma has been linked with a January move to Spanish side Atletico Madrid, but the 23-year-old insists he is concentrating only on the task in hand.
"I can think only of Porto," he said. "It's always good to know that other European teams are interested in me, but I'm focused on helping the team reach our goals."
Former Barcelona winger Quaresma -
Wenger rues Henry booking
Arsenal must travel to porto for the final group match without their captain after Thierry Henry received an unnecessary caution for dissent last night.
The Frenchman had already rued the booking that had followed the annulment of his equalising goal in Moscow, Arsenal's last away match, but its cost continues to bite: last night's second yellow card will result in a one-match ban. Although CSKA Moscow's slip at home to Porto makes Arsenal the favourites to top Group G, the fixture in Portugal is far from insignificant to their hopes of making progress.
"It's a blow because we wanted Thierry in Porto," said Arsène Wenger of Henry's booking last night. "We will have to do it without him. We want to win so much that I am confident we'll make it. I could see Thierry was frustrated. He was held back by his shirt being pulled on quite a few occasions. "
Wenger noted that conspiracists will already have made up their minds about the final match in the group. "If it finishes as a draw, no one is disappointed," he said, with a smile.