Wenger: month will test our strength
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Arsène Wenger admitted last night that he was "indifferent" to the Champions League, with his priority maintaining Arsenal's lead at the top of the Premier League. However, he did accept that his side's prospects in the two competitions are now intertwined.
The prospect of confronting Liverpool three times in a week - the two legs of the Champions League quarter-final will sandwich a Premier League meeting at the Emirates next month - may be intriguing, but it could also prove a distraction with a league game at Manchester United to follow.
Judged against this season's high standards, Arsenal have slipped in recent weeks, with Wenger conceding that the two matches against Milan in the first knockout phase distracted his players from domestic competition. "I believe between the two legs [against Milan] there was a hangover because we were desperate to go through and the draw in the first leg created an uncertainty," said Wenger. "We dropped maybe two points from that. That shows you how strong you have to be to deal with both competitions. But we are not sitting here focusing just on the Liverpool games. We are concentrating on the league.
"The next month will be a very interesting period for us. It will tell us more about the team and I am very confident that we will show how strong we are. We have shown from the beginning of the season we can deal with any type of resistance, and any kind of situation. We just want to continue that. "If we are in good shape in the championship, we will be able to play with less pressure when we meet Liverpool in the quarter-finals. We will have to be at our best in those matches - it is important you raise your game on the day - but I am very relaxed and very confident."
With games against United and Chelsea to come, Wenger insisted that the destiny of the title remained in Arsenal's hands. "The title is there to win for all three teams - I have never ruled Chelsea out - but it is down to us and our performances," he added. "I'm not concerned by the draws because they were each down to special circumstances.
"I'm optimistic with the mental strength my team are showing. We have fantastic strength. We were under big pressure when we went to Milan, and you did not see that in our game.
"The Liverpool game is exciting but, at the moment, I am quite indifferent to the Champions League as I want us to do well in the championship race. We need to take off again by beating Middlesbrough."
Arsenal's next month
Sunday March 23
v Chelsea (a)Premier League
Saturday March 29
v Bolton (a)Premier League
Wednesday April 2
v Liverpool (h)Champions Lge quarter-final 1st leg
Saturday April 5 v Liverpool
(h)Premier League
Tuesday April 8 v Liverpool
(a)Champions Lge quarter-final 2nd leg
Sunday April 13 v Manchester Utd
(a)Premier League
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arsenal gone case already la. make sure they dont finish third very good already.
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Don't say like that, the ball is round, anything can happen... You never know until the last day...
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arsenal siao one lar...like to draw so much. They better hope that 1 win is reverted to just 2 points only which is impossible LOL
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Ya lor ball is round anything can happen. Who knows maybe arsenal may get ousted out of top 4 by manutd, chelsea, liverpool and everton.
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i jus cant see hw arsenal will win against liverpool, chelsea and man utd.
3rd is the best they cant hope for
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Yeah. Our current form shows we are like aiming for 3rd spot. Gosh.
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They are quite unfortunate to meet all the tough side in the EPL within three weeks.
I am not sure whether their squad can tahan the congestion of fixtures.
The lucky thing is that they are all in UK.
I guess the players will be flat during the Man Utd match.
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actually its nt the 1st team is lan
but the quality of the sub bench whom can be match winners
excluding lemon, the four are
taore?... giberto ?... senderous? ... bendtner?...
one more injury to the 1st team and arsenal will be goners
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We must halt Fernando Torres or he will punish us, says Arsene Wenger
Arsene Wenger last night warned that red - hot Fernando Torres is the biggest danger to Arsenal's Champions League hopes.
Gunners boss Wenger tried to be upbeat as he insisted Arsenal can win the Double despite being paired with Liverpool in the last eight - and could end up facing Chelsea in the semis.
But Wenger did admit that in-form Torres - the destroyer of Inter Milan in the last round - is the man they have to stop as they face Liverpool three times in the space of eight days in Europe and in the Premier League.
Wenger said: "He is going through a good spell. He had an indifferent spell at the start, but now he has adapted very quickly.
"He is quick, strong, brave and that's the kind of competition you want to keep quiet in the Champions League. You must be particularly careful when he is away from home. You do not want to give him any counterattacking chances. He and Steven Gerrard are both very quick on the break."
Wenger has said that he wanted to avoid an-all English quarter-final and that he would have to treat the Champions League games differently to the Premier League encounter sandwiched in the middle. But he firmly believes his players can rediscover their form in the Premier League - and that would help them overcome Liverpool.
Wenger said: " You would ideally prefer to avoid another English team but we knew that if we wanted to go all the way through to the final then we would have to play another English side at some stage. "Football is not predictable - that's why it's interesting - but at the moment we are in the position in the Championship where we have the advantage. So we want to focus immediately - we aren't sitting there waiting for the Liverpool game.
"It will help us when we play Liverpool if we are in a good shape in the Championship. We can play with less pressure. "That shows you how strong you have to be to deal with both competitions. "This is a cup game, and in a League game you can concede a goal. In the Champions League you have seen against Liverpool, against Milan, how vital it is not to concede at home.
"What Liverpool have done before doesn't bother us at all, what is very important on the day is that you are at your best, we need to raise our game on the day, because it's a cup game."
Wenger also believes Arsenal have got an ace up their sleeve for the run-in in the shape of fit-again Dutch striker Robin van Persie.
Liverpool boss Benitez sees the clash with Arsenal as a chance for Liverpool to prove their greatness. He said: "You know what, I don't even care about those people who say that we are not great champions, even though we have won the trophy and got to the final again.
"I believe strongly that over the past three years it has got harder and harder to reach the final, because you must play the Champions of each country to get there. This season, it is a fantastic achievement to even be in the quarter-finals, because some sides you can consider to be great have not made it. We beat Inter Milan who are a fine side, and that shows our strength.