Arsenal can win Champions League

Arsenal can win Champions League

European Football Arsenal

by Phil McNulty - BBC Sport 04 March 2008

Arsenal made history in the San Siro to deliver a compelling response to those who hinted that their season might be running out of steam.

Arsene Wenger's side may still be top of the Premier League, but wasteful draws against Birmingham and Aston Villa - along with Eduardo's horrific injury - had the pundits posing questions.

Every one was answered emphatically as Arsenal comprehensively outclassed holders AC Milan with a style that suggested they can reach a second Champions League final in three seasons.

Milan had early supremacy, but it was a brief period in the ascendancy and was soon submerged by the class, youth, pace and mobility of an Arsenal side that simply had too much for the old timers to cope with.

Arsenal should have been in the comfort zone long before Cesc Fabregas sparked wild celebrations with his team-mates and Wenger on the touchline with a 30-yard shot that snaked beyond ponderous Milan keeper Zeljko Kalac.

Emmanuel Adebayor's second gave a more realistic reflection of Arsenal's superiority on a night that was a personal triumph for Wenger as well as his players.

Fabregas was the fulcrum of everything Arsenal did, pulling the strings, creating chances and threatening to score himself well before he actually did. He over-shadowed Kaka, who was left with the burden of carrying a crumbling team.

William Gallas, whose credentials as captain came under scrutiny after his loss of control and composure at Birmingham, marshalled the defence brilliantly.

And in Adebayor, Arsenal have a potent spearhead who excels in all aspects of the attacking art. The late goal he turned in from Theo Walcott's cross was no more than a tireless display deserved.

It was a victory that was true to Wenger's principles, based on glorious passing, attacking football that even forced Milan's fans to set aside their disappointment and applaud Arsenal's players at the final whistle.

What sting Milan had was swiftly drawn, with Alexander Hleb intelligently deployed just behind Adebayor and the under-rated Mathieu Flamini a willing accomplice for the more lavishly-gifted Fabregas.


There is still a fragility about Arsenal, but their approach is so pure that it can be forgiven. So many chances were created and squandered that Milan were still harbouring hopes of an undeserved smash-and-grab victory until Fabregas scored six minutes from time.

It all came right in the end and Arsenal are now a team to be avoided in the draw for the last eight. Any team that has their capacity to score goals, especially away from home, can win this competition.

And with Wenger's tactical brilliance to call on, his young team are genuine dark horses.

There was a quiet confidence in the camp before this game despite only drawing the first leg. It soon became clear why as, from the foundation of the clean sheet they claimed at The Emirates, they looked like a side who knew they would score eventually.

Milan's own plight means the victory must be placed in context. The Italians looked tired, old and too reliant on the brilliance of Kaka up front and the experience of Maldini at the back.

But nothing must lessen the scale of Arsenal's achievement. Manchester United faced a similarly ageing Milan side in the San Siro last year at the semi-final stage and were taken to the cleaners.

Wenger has always had total faith in his squad through recent traumas - and they repaid him in style.

And as he left Italy to return to Premier League combat, he will have done so with a genuine and justified belief that Arsenal are good enough to lift the Champions League.

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