Post by Golden_Boy™ on Mar 29, 2010 17:04:46 GMT -1
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Wenger - Henry will get a great reception
Arsène Wenger is confident that Thierry Henry will receive a "great reception" from Arsenal fans at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
The Club's record goalscorer returns in midweek as Barcelona visit London for the first leg of the Champions League Quarter-Final.
Henry left Arsenal in the summer of 2007 and Wednesday will mark his first return to Emirates Stadium with his current employers.
The Frenchman visited the Club in October to witness the Gunners' 6-2 win over Blackburn Rovers. He came onto the pitch before the match and received a rapturous reception from the Arsenal fans, something Wenger expects to see again next week.
"I think it will be very emotional for him to come back to the Emirates," said the manager.
"I think he will get the great reception that he deserves as one of the historical players of the Club.
“But when the game starts don’t forget that we play for the Quarter-Final of the Champions League. We will forget that he played for us."
Arsène Wenger is confident that Thierry Henry will receive a "great reception" from Arsenal fans at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
The Club's record goalscorer returns in midweek as Barcelona visit London for the first leg of the Champions League Quarter-Final.
Henry left Arsenal in the summer of 2007 and Wednesday will mark his first return to Emirates Stadium with his current employers.
The Frenchman visited the Club in October to witness the Gunners' 6-2 win over Blackburn Rovers. He came onto the pitch before the match and received a rapturous reception from the Arsenal fans, something Wenger expects to see again next week.
"I think it will be very emotional for him to come back to the Emirates," said the manager.
"I think he will get the great reception that he deserves as one of the historical players of the Club.
“But when the game starts don’t forget that we play for the Quarter-Final of the Champions League. We will forget that he played for us."
Wenger - Why we won't man-mark Barca
Arsène Wenger will NOT deploy man-to-man marking on Barcelona in the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola's side visit Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night for the first leg of a glamour Quarter-Final tie and, on the evidence of their win over Stuttgart in the previous round, the holders will take some stopping.
Barcelona's star-studded squad includes the irrepressible Lionel Messi and a sizeable chunk of the all-conquering Spanish national side. But Wenger has never tried to man-mark an opponent at Arsenal and he won't start now.
"At Arsenal, never [have I man-marked]," he said.
"Once you start to man-mark one, it can work but in exceptional teams you have two or three you have to man-mark and then you have to go to a system where you could create your own problems just by following somebody everywhere.
"So it is important we have a good team organisation on the night, we know that.
"Ideally for us it is important that we don’t concede a goal and that we win the game."
Arsène Wenger will NOT deploy man-to-man marking on Barcelona in the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola's side visit Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night for the first leg of a glamour Quarter-Final tie and, on the evidence of their win over Stuttgart in the previous round, the holders will take some stopping.
Barcelona's star-studded squad includes the irrepressible Lionel Messi and a sizeable chunk of the all-conquering Spanish national side. But Wenger has never tried to man-mark an opponent at Arsenal and he won't start now.
"At Arsenal, never [have I man-marked]," he said.
"Once you start to man-mark one, it can work but in exceptional teams you have two or three you have to man-mark and then you have to go to a system where you could create your own problems just by following somebody everywhere.
"So it is important we have a good team organisation on the night, we know that.
"Ideally for us it is important that we don’t concede a goal and that we win the game."
INIESTA OUT
Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta has been ruled out of Wednesday's Champions League match with Arsenal due to a hamstring injury.
The Spain international was replaced just after half-time in Saturday night's Primera Division win over Real Mallorca and, after undergoing tests, it was announced that he is likely to be sidelined for around 10 days.
That would mean Iniesta missing the Champions League quarter-final first leg with Arsenal and next weekend's league match with Athletic Bilbao.
Barca coach Pep Guardiola will be keeping his fingers crossed the Euro 2008 winner will be available for the return leg against Arsenal and the away match with Real Madrid.
Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta has been ruled out of Wednesday's Champions League match with Arsenal due to a hamstring injury.
The Spain international was replaced just after half-time in Saturday night's Primera Division win over Real Mallorca and, after undergoing tests, it was announced that he is likely to be sidelined for around 10 days.
That would mean Iniesta missing the Champions League quarter-final first leg with Arsenal and next weekend's league match with Athletic Bilbao.
Barca coach Pep Guardiola will be keeping his fingers crossed the Euro 2008 winner will be available for the return leg against Arsenal and the away match with Real Madrid.
• Arsenal will look to maintain their impressive run of home form, having recorded five straight wins in this season's UEFA Champions League, play-off round included. Arsène Wenger's men took their home goals' tally to 16 in five games when beating FC Porto 5-0 to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit in the first knockout round.
• Arsenal have fared well in two-legged ties with teams from Spain, winning five and losing just one.
• The Gunners overcame Spanish opponents at this stage of last season's UEFA Champions League, beating Villarreal CF 4-1 on aggregate with a 3-0 second-leg win at home.
• They have a less enviable history when it comes to meeting Spanish sides in major finals, however. Besides their 2006 defeat by Barcelona, they lost UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals against Valencia CF (1980) and Real Zaragoza (1995).
• While Arsenal are chasing a third semi-final appearance, Barcelona are looking for their 11th.
• The holders are undefeated on their travels in this season's UEFA Champions League with one win and three draws. They held VfB Stuttgart 1-1 in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Germany before a 4-0 home win.
• Barcelona's last away defeat in the competition proper, qualifiers excluded, was in the 2007/08 semi-final at Manchester United FC.
• Barcelona's most recent meeting with a Premier League team came in last year's Rome final where they defeated United 2-0 through goals from Eto'o and Lionel Messi. That was their second major final against United, who beat them 2-1 in the 1991 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
• The Spanish titleholders' last visit to London in May 2009 was high on drama as Andrés Iniesta's 93rd-minute goal earned them the 1-1 draw at semi-final opponents Chelsea FC that carried them into the UEFA Champions League final on the away-goals rule.
• Barcelona have won eight and lost nine of 17 previous two-legged meetings with teams from England.
• In addition to their meetings during the 1999/2000 season, the rival coaches also lined up against each other when Wenger was coach of AS Monaco FC and Guardiola was a player at Barcelona.
• Guardiola came out on top with Barcelona beating Monaco both home (2-0) and away (1-0) in the 1993/94 UEFA Champions League group stage. Both clubs subsequently lost to AC Milan, Monaco in the semi-final, Barcelona in the final.
• Guardiola held aloft the European Champion Clubs' Cup on English soil as a player when the Blaugrana beat UC Sampdoria at Wembley in 1992. But he won only once in five attempts away to English opponents during his playing days.
• Henry is Arsenal's record league scorer. He hit 174 goals in 254 Premier League appearances, and 226 in 369 matches overall between 1999 and 2007.
• The French international won two league titles and three FA Cups during his time in north London. His first coach when he joined Monaco as a teenager was Wenger.
• Fàbregas travelled in the opposite direction as Henry when he left Barcelona's youth ranks to join Arsenal as a 16-year-old in September 2003.
• Thomas Vermaelen was a colleague of Maxwell and Zlatan Ibrahimović at AFC Ajax, playing with the latter from 2001 to 2004 and the former for another two years until 2006.
• William Gallas played in the Chelsea team that eliminated Barcelona from the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League but then lost to them at the same last-16 stage the next season.
• Mikaël Silvestre appeared as a last-minute substitute for former club Manchester United in their 2008 semi-final win against Barcelona at Old Trafford.
• Andrei Arshavin was in the Russia side beaten 3-0 by Spain in the UEFA EURO 2008 semi-final. Puyol, Xavi Hernández and Iniesta were in the Spain lineup along with Fàbregas.
• Gerard Piqué played once against Arsenal during his four years at Manchester United from 2004 to 2008. That appearance against Arsenal in a 2-1 win at Old Trafford in April 2008 was his last in a United shirt.
• Seydou Keita scored the opening goal for Sevilla FC when they beat Arsenal 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League group stage in November 2007. Daniel Alves also played for Sevilla that night and the future Barcelona pair were involved too in Sevilla's 3-0 reverse at Arsenal two months earlier.
• Carlos Vela is a team-mate of Rafael Márquez with Mexico.
• The second leg takes place on 6 April. The victors will take on the winner of the quarter-final between FC Internazionale Milano and PFC CSKA Moskva in the semi-finals.
• Arsenal have fared well in two-legged ties with teams from Spain, winning five and losing just one.
• The Gunners overcame Spanish opponents at this stage of last season's UEFA Champions League, beating Villarreal CF 4-1 on aggregate with a 3-0 second-leg win at home.
• They have a less enviable history when it comes to meeting Spanish sides in major finals, however. Besides their 2006 defeat by Barcelona, they lost UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals against Valencia CF (1980) and Real Zaragoza (1995).
• While Arsenal are chasing a third semi-final appearance, Barcelona are looking for their 11th.
• The holders are undefeated on their travels in this season's UEFA Champions League with one win and three draws. They held VfB Stuttgart 1-1 in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Germany before a 4-0 home win.
• Barcelona's last away defeat in the competition proper, qualifiers excluded, was in the 2007/08 semi-final at Manchester United FC.
• Barcelona's most recent meeting with a Premier League team came in last year's Rome final where they defeated United 2-0 through goals from Eto'o and Lionel Messi. That was their second major final against United, who beat them 2-1 in the 1991 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
• The Spanish titleholders' last visit to London in May 2009 was high on drama as Andrés Iniesta's 93rd-minute goal earned them the 1-1 draw at semi-final opponents Chelsea FC that carried them into the UEFA Champions League final on the away-goals rule.
• Barcelona have won eight and lost nine of 17 previous two-legged meetings with teams from England.
• In addition to their meetings during the 1999/2000 season, the rival coaches also lined up against each other when Wenger was coach of AS Monaco FC and Guardiola was a player at Barcelona.
• Guardiola came out on top with Barcelona beating Monaco both home (2-0) and away (1-0) in the 1993/94 UEFA Champions League group stage. Both clubs subsequently lost to AC Milan, Monaco in the semi-final, Barcelona in the final.
• Guardiola held aloft the European Champion Clubs' Cup on English soil as a player when the Blaugrana beat UC Sampdoria at Wembley in 1992. But he won only once in five attempts away to English opponents during his playing days.
• Henry is Arsenal's record league scorer. He hit 174 goals in 254 Premier League appearances, and 226 in 369 matches overall between 1999 and 2007.
• The French international won two league titles and three FA Cups during his time in north London. His first coach when he joined Monaco as a teenager was Wenger.
• Fàbregas travelled in the opposite direction as Henry when he left Barcelona's youth ranks to join Arsenal as a 16-year-old in September 2003.
• Thomas Vermaelen was a colleague of Maxwell and Zlatan Ibrahimović at AFC Ajax, playing with the latter from 2001 to 2004 and the former for another two years until 2006.
• William Gallas played in the Chelsea team that eliminated Barcelona from the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League but then lost to them at the same last-16 stage the next season.
• Mikaël Silvestre appeared as a last-minute substitute for former club Manchester United in their 2008 semi-final win against Barcelona at Old Trafford.
• Andrei Arshavin was in the Russia side beaten 3-0 by Spain in the UEFA EURO 2008 semi-final. Puyol, Xavi Hernández and Iniesta were in the Spain lineup along with Fàbregas.
• Gerard Piqué played once against Arsenal during his four years at Manchester United from 2004 to 2008. That appearance against Arsenal in a 2-1 win at Old Trafford in April 2008 was his last in a United shirt.
• Seydou Keita scored the opening goal for Sevilla FC when they beat Arsenal 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League group stage in November 2007. Daniel Alves also played for Sevilla that night and the future Barcelona pair were involved too in Sevilla's 3-0 reverse at Arsenal two months earlier.
• Carlos Vela is a team-mate of Rafael Márquez with Mexico.
• The second leg takes place on 6 April. The victors will take on the winner of the quarter-final between FC Internazionale Milano and PFC CSKA Moskva in the semi-finals.
