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Arsenal Stadium, London
Tuesday 30 September 2008 - 20.45CET
Group G - Matchday 2
Arsène Wenger may have felt “physically sick” after Arsenal FC’s surprise defeat by Hull City AFC but the Frenchman was back in defiant mood 48 hours later as he looked forward to Tuesday’s Group G visit of FC Porto, insisting his team had the quality to go all the way in the UEFA Champions League this season.
‘We have the quality’
Citing his players’ quality, desire and ambition, Wenger said: “We had a very disappointing result against Hull but I’ve been sitting on the bench long enough to know if you play this game 100 times you lose it one time. I believe we will win [on Tuesday]. We want to make sure we win, we want to get the right belief into our game. Everybody thinks we should not have any chance to win the Champions League – I believe we have enough quality to do it and that is what we want to show.”
No complacency
Saturday’s 2-1 loss was Arsenal’s first reverse on home soil in 36 matches and Wenger admitted his players did not have the “right focus levels”, explaining: “Maybe we were guilty in that at 1-0 we thought we’d done the difficult part.” Yet he underlined there would be no danger of complacency against the Portuguese champions as Arsenal look to build on their 1-1 draw at FC Dynamo Kyiv on Matchday 1, when Porto beat Fenerbahçe SK 3-1. “We have had a draw at Kiev and we know the home games will be decisive in our qualification,” said Wenger, whose side have not lost a European home tie since spring 2004. “Porto had a convincing victory against Fenerbahçe and knowing Fenerbahçe’s team, with its basis of Brazilians and Spanish, that tells me a lot about their quality so we’ll take them very seriously.”
Playing to win
Porto may have opened with a win but history suggests they will find the going tougher on English soil. They have lost on nine of ten previous visits, including a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal in September 2006. Yet coach Jesualdo Ferreira stressed that they would play to win. “Porto don’t have a good record in England – we have never won a game here which says it all. It is a challenge for us and it will be difficult, but Porto are a club that want to win every game and that will be our aim,” he said.
Lucho hope
Comparing the changes in the respective sides since that 2006 meeting – decided by goals from the departed Thierry Henry and Aleksandr Hleb – Ferreira added: “Most of the Arsenal players are even better than then – bigger, older and with more experience. Now we have different players and the only thing we can say is there are more Arsenal players with experience and fewer experienced players in our team, and that might be the determining factor.” Porto have not won any of their three domestic away matches this term but they recorded a morale-boosting 2-0 league success at home to FC Paços de Ferreira, and Ferreira will hope to welcome back key Argentinian midfielder Lucho González, rested on Friday because of an adductor problem. Wenger, for his part, said Samir Nasri was available after a knee injury but that fellow midfielder Alexandre Song would remain sidelined with a hip problem Touré wants prizes, not plaudits Kolo Touré believes it is high time Arsenal FC delivered on their undoubted promise and picked up a trophy, rather than mere plaudits for the beauty of their football.
‘Want a trophy’
Looking ahead to FC Porto’s visit to north London on Tuesday, defender Touré reaffirmed the team’s determination to collect some silverware in the wake of the surprise weekend defeat by Hull City AFC. “We really want to do something this season because for four seasons we have not won anything,” said the Ivorian defender. “We are playing good football and everyone is talking about Arsenal. We want to win a trophy to show the good football we play can bring us some silverware.” Arsenal came close last season, reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and finishing four points off the Premier League summit. “Of course we know we have the quality and we have the spirit as well. Last season we learned from a lot of mistakes and that will help us,” added the 27-year-old Touré, one of three survivors of the Arsenal side that won the FA Cup in 2005.
Tall order
Reflecting on the 2-1 loss to top-flight newcomers Hull that ended Arsenal’s 17-month unbeaten home run, Touré’s manager, Arsène Wenger, had lamented that “our centre-backs are not very tall”, mindful of Daniel Cousin’s headed winner. Yet Touré, who measures 1.80m, said a players’ stature was less a concern than their strength and alertness. “You know that [Roberto] Ayala is not the tallest and he is a top defender. [Fabio] Cannavaro is not the tallest. Cannavaro was the best player in the world two years ago and I think I am taller than him. It is not about that, the player who attacks the ball will score.
‘Still a good side’
“We were winning 1-0 and then maybe in our minds we thought the game was over,” he added. “In the dressing room just after the game you saw every player was really sad and disappointed but we will try to show another face tomorrow. We are lucky we can put Saturday’s game behind us immediately and we have a chance to show everyone we are still a good side. We saw a tape of Porto playing Benfica and they are a good team. They have always been in the Champions League and have experience of the competition. It is going to be a tight game and exciting for us as well to show we have the character to win against a big team.”