Rossi: I'll silence the Gunns
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NO FEAR ... Giuseppe Rossi
ARSENAL fans itching to give Giuseppe Rossi stick because of his links with Manchester United had better think again.
Villarreal striker Rossi, 22, says nothing can match the hostility of Athens where the Spaniards overcame Panathinaikos in the previous round of the Champions League.
Rossi, a £6million buy from United 18 months ago, scored in the tie to get Villarreal through and was also a handful in the 1-1 first-leg draw with the Gunners in Spain.
He has scored 23 goals in just 50 games for Villarreal.
A win tomorrow will open up the possibility of a semi-final against United.
Rossi said: “I know all about playing Arsenal from my time at United and I’m sure their fans will be booing me because of that.
“But that’s no problem to me because when I get stick, I go even harder to get a goal.
“In any case the atmosphere won’t be a major influence. Fans in London are nothing like those in Athens and I’m looking forward to celebrating a goal there.”
Rossi points out that Villarreal nicked a 2-1 win in Greece after drawing 1-1 at home — and he is convinced his side can repeat the dose tonight.
He said: “We always seem to score on our travels and if we get the first goal I am convinced we will go through.
“We actually missed a big chance in the home game when we let Arsenal dominate the ball for too long.
“We know Cesc Fabregas is the Arsenal star but Emmanuel Adebayor is dangerous always and showed in the first match how he can affect a match with just one movement. He is an excellent striker and we must stop him.
“We have injuries to Santi Cazorla and Marcos Senna. They are important players but now is the real moment for the rest of us to demonstrate that we have a squad able to save even the worse situations.
“We have studied every detail of this game. It’s our match of the year and we aim to show Arsenal are not really superior to Villarreal.
“Other clubs in the Premier League have won in the Emirates Stadium and so can we.”
But Villarreal are struggling for form after suffering their third defeat in four domestic games in going down 2-0 at home to Malaga on Saturday.
Their plight has been complicated by the loss of Spain midfielder Senna — scorer of a stunning goal in the first leg — who suffered a leg muscle strain on Saturday.
Villarreal midfielder Robert Pires is upbeat before the clash with his former club, who beat Wigan 4-1 on Saturday for their fifth consecutive victory in the English top flight.
Pires said: “Our squad is one of the best in Spain and in Europe. We can undoubtedly win the Champions League.
“We are going to try to reach the final in Rome. We know it’s very hard, but I think this squad has a chance of winning this competition.”
A goalless draw would be enough to seal Arsenal a place in the semi-finals.
But boss Arsene Wenger has urged his players to take their destiny in their own hands tonight and promised he has no intention of going on the defensive.
He insisted: “We know we are in a situation where we don’t want to be tentative at all. We want to be decisive but you can only do that if you decide to play in a very positive way.
“I don’t believe that we are a team who can play for 0-0, that’s not our natural way.
“I don’t expect any weaknesses from them. I expect some strength from us to say ‘Listen, we have the opportunity to get to the semi-finals, let’s take it.’ I am confident we will and we have the quality needed to do that but you know from their game that they can be dangerous as well.”
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I so scared ooooo
Come Come
I make sure u come u went back to villareal nothing handed