United showdown is no mission impossible: Wenger

Arsene Wenger expects Arsenal to sweep Manchester United aside with the performance of a lifetime in Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final showdown.

Wenger’s side trail 1-0 from the first leg after a lacklustre display at Old Trafford last week and will be without French defenders William Gallas and Gael Clichy for the return.

With United back to their formidable best after a brief blip, Wenger knows Arsenal are widely regarded as underdogs to reach the final against Chelsea or Barcelona at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.

But the Gunners boss has complete confidence in his young players and is certain they will rise to the occasion at the Emirates Stadium.

“How do I rate our chances? I believe we will make it,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Monday. “I’m very confident the team will produce a magnificent performance and that we will manage it. That is what we want and that is what we will get, don’t worry.

“We play a home game where we have a strong record in the Champions League. For many people we are outsiders but I personally believe we will do it.

“There is no mission impossible for us. I believe that when we’ve beaten them at home in the league there have been plenty of opportunities and I don’t think that would change my belief at all if they score.”

For the first time since coming within minutes of winning the 2006 Champions League final against Barcelona, the Gunners are close to reaching the final again.

Wenger has never won Europe’s elite club competition but, although his smooth-passing teams often seem better constructed for success in continental competition than in the Premier League, the Frenchman denied he is obssessed with the Champions League.

“My obsession is to play as well as possible and win as much as possible,” he said. “I don’t think that winning the Champions League is the sole motivation to continue as a coach.

“The job as the manager is always to get the maximum potential out of your team. That’s what you focus on and the pressure is part of our job, and personally I am used to living with that.

“No matter what happens on Tuesday I believe this team will make a big impact in the game and that is what we want to continue to develop.

“The progress this team has made since the start of the season has been remarkable. We are on a fantastic run in the Premier League.

“We are 21 games unbeaten, we are in the semi-final of the Champions League, we were in semi-final of the FA Cup. That is remarkable for the club.

“We have to be positive and optimistic about this team. We can make it to the final.”

With a Champions League final tantalisingly close, Wenger knows motivating his players won’t be a problem on Tuesday.

But the flip side of such a high-stakes occasion is it can make players over-anxious and he wants the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, fit to play after a groin injury, to relax as much as possible.

“The players’ dream is to be in the final, so you don’t need the motivation. It’s more important to relax the players and focus on what you want to do rather than anything else,” he said.

“You can read every day in the papers that Premier League players are playing not to go down. They say ‘it’s the most important game and the biggest game, we cannot afford to lose’.

“It doesn’t help if you say to players that if you don’t win, you will die. That doesn’t make them better players.

“We have a good opportunity to enjoy it, we have a good opportunity to play the football we love. Let’s go out and do that.”