Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes that Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg tie will be a good chance for his side to ‘show what they’ve learned’.
The north London side welcome the visit of none other than La Liga and defending European champions Barcelona to the Emirates Stadium, with Luis Enrique’s side clear favourites going into the fixture.
Arsenal have struggled in recent seasons to get past the first hurdle of the knockout stages, with last campaign’s disappointing loss to Monaco the prime example. The French side visited the Emirates as underdogs and despite this, walked away with a 3-1 first leg victory, allowing themselves the perfect opportunity to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Reflecting on the situation to the media, as reported by the club’s official website, the Frenchman claimed that Tuesday’s game is an opportunity for the Gunners to put themselves in a good position going into the second leg at the Camp Nou.
It is a good opportunity to show we have learned because it is true we have given ourselves a difficult task after the first home leg and maybe after we have been a bit too keen to make the difference in the first game. We need to find the right balance between being audacious because that is what you will need to be against Barcelona. We need to be strong defensively as a unit and not put ourselves in front of a very difficult task in the second leg.
We are better equipped in the way we have assembled experience now. I believe all the players I have are intelligent and it is a good opportunity to show we have learned.
Arsenal face the La Liga giants on Tuesday evening at the Emirates, before travelling to Manchester to take on Louis van Gaal’s struggling United side on Sunday afternoon.
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