Arsene Wenger says Arsenal believe they can knock Barcelona out of the Champions League after as a ‘special football night’ at the Emirates.
Late goals from Robin van Persie and substitute Andrey Arshavin – bravely brought on by Wenger in place of defensive midfielder Alex Song – cancelled out David Villa’s 26th-minute opener to give Arsenal a 2-1 win and a narrow lead going into the second leg of the last-16 tie.
“We played against the best team in the world and we managed to beat them. They are an exceptional side and Barcelona are still the team to beat in Europe,” Wenger said.
“It’s a special lift for my team. I believe our players have shown exceptional strength and togetherness and this result will reinforce that.”
Arsenal played Barcelona in the quarter-finals last season, drawing 2-2 at the Emirates before losing 4-1 to a Lionel Messi-inspired Barca in the second leg at the Camp Nou.
Wenger believes his current squad can avoid the same fate.
“We are not favourites, but we believe we have a chance and we’ll go for it. Barca is still favourite but we know we can beat them, and we didn’t know that last year,” he said.
“This result gives us a chance to go to Barcelona with belief and I’m highly delighted. It was a special football night. The game promised a lot and absolutely fulfilled it.”
Arsenal chose not to play defensively against the Spanish champions, despite suggestions from many experts that it was the only way to beat them.
Wenger proved his determination to stick to his principles when he took off Song in the second half and replaced him with attacker Arshavin – who went on to score the winner following a sweeping break-away move.
“I took a gamble,” Wenger admitted.
“But I had to do it, we needed two goals. I’m very proud for Arsenal Football Club tonight because everybody urged us to play differently to our nature. It’s good we didn’t do that. Now this result can strengthen the belief in our philosophy and that’s most important.”
But Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola insisted his team can still go through.
“Our players have shown before their quality and we are going to try,” he said.
“But we know Arsenal are a very good team, a strong team, and we admire their quality and their style. They will attack and we will attack too. If you have nothing to do, go to Barcelona because I think it will be a good game.”
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