AS Roma v Arsenal
UEFA Champions League, Stadio Olimpico
Wednesday, March 11, 2009, 19:45
All roads lead to Rome in the Champions League this season.
Arsenal’s ultimate aim is a return to the Stadio Olimpico for the Final on May 27. But first they must not fluff their lines in what Arsène Wenger hopes will be a dress rehearsal.
The Frenchman takes his side to AS Roma for the Knockout Round second leg with a small but valuable 1-0 lead. Arsenal have avoided defeat in the last 17 games, that is all they have to do on Wednesday night and they will reach the last eight for the third time in four seasons.
If Arsenal can grab an away goal they can actually afford to lose. Should that happen Roma would have to score three times – as many goals as Wenger’s men have conceded in the last nine weeks.
When you angle it that way – then add in a sterling recent record away in Europe and Roma’s important absences – the visitors would seem clear favourites.
But Luciano Spalletti's side hammered Chelsea 3-1 in the Group Stage and have been climbing the Serie A table in recent months after a dreadful start to the season.
That is why Wenger will give his side the license to attack on the night. Their lead to too small and too fragile to protect.
"I will try to convince the players we want a positive attitude and not just sit back,” he said. "As a team we are strong going forward. If we only defend we put ourselves in trouble.
"If we score we have a very, very strong chance to go through. So we will go into the game wanting to win it.
“You need to play good football and be strong in your recovery of the ball away from home. That's our first task but the second one is that, after we have recovered the ball, we must go forward.
“We have the experience of playing in places like Madrid and Milan and we never hid then. That should convince us the way to approach the game is to be positive. That's our style of play and our culture.”
There were no surprises in Wenger’s 19-man squad. Kolo Toure is back after his calf problem while Denilson and Samir Nasri are included after missing the win over Burnley at the weekend.
That 3-0 victory saw Eduardo re-affirm the belief that his 11-month absence has done nothing to diminish his powers while Theo Walcott got his first run-out after four months out. The addition of those two suddenly gives Arsenal much more gravitas and versatility in attack.
"We certainly have pace in the team now,” admitted Wenger. “And it’s fantastic the way Eduardo has played. We were very concerned when we saw his injury but, when you see what he is doing now, it’s nearly a miracle.”
Roma, on the other hand, could do with a miracle cure. They will be without Cicinho for six months after he ruptured knee ligaments in Sunday’s draw with Udinese. The Brazilian joins Simone Perrotta (knee), Marco Cassetti and highly-rated midfield enforcer Daniele De Rossi (suspension) on the sidelines. Francesco Totti, David Pizarro, Doni, Philippe Mexes and Alberto Aquilani all have question marks against them going into the game. But Spalletti does have bullish Brazilian midfielder Julio Baptista, who is back to his best after an indifferent season at Emirates Stadium in 2007-08.
Undoubtedly, this tie is firmly in Arsenal’s hands. They have history at Roma – a thumping 3-1 win in November 2002 – and their task in the Eternal City on Wednesday is strikingly similar to the three-card trick Wenger pulled off en route to the Final in 2006. In each of the Knockout Rounds against Juventus, Real Madrid and Villarreal, Arsenal got a narrow first leg lead and kept a scoreless second game. That was a patched-up, out-of-position defence that just so happened to set a Champions League record for clean sheets. This looks better on paper and has seemed pretty assured on grass in recent months. But the manager is not prepared to rely solely on his backline.
“We are quite solid defensively,” said Wenger. “But I believe in this game it’s down to achieving a good balance between attack and defence. We always have an offensive attitude and sometimes that’s the best way so you don’t come under pressure defensively.
“We can score and be dangerous. That’s what we want to do in this game. They will certainly play differently than the first leg. I expect that Roma will be at their best and so it’s a challenge for us to be at our best too.”
In the latter stages of the Champions League nothing else is ever good enough.
