Wenger ´never really nervous´ against Partizan

His side failed to impress despite a 3-1 victory over Partizan Belgrade, but Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said he was ‘never really nervous’.

Striker Cleo cancelled out Robin van Persie’s penalty, only for goals from Theo Walcott and Samir Nasri in the final 20 minutes of normal time to clinch a 3-1 win at the Emirates on Wednesday for the Gunners.

The Arsenal performance was hardly a convincing one, but enough to certify second place in Group H. A date with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Schalke now beckons in the Champions League’s knockout stages.

“I was never really nervous. Worried yes, because you cannot say you don’t worry when it is 1-1,” Wenger said after the game.

“But I felt we had the resources to score and in the last 20 minutes they would drop physically. I was always confident that we would qualify but you never know.”

“We didn’t find our pace in the game. We didn’t manage to find openings in their defence and they defended very well.”

“We have a 50 percent chance to travel to Spain and we have a 50 percent chance to travel to Germany. If you ask me what I prefer, I don’t know.”

“Barcelona are super favourites in the competition. But we take what we get. We’ll see.”

Partizan exit Europe after finishing pointless and bottom of the group, with manager Aleksandar Stanojevic ruing the mistakes his side had made in its campaign.

“We had some good moments in all the matches but made too many mistakes against quality opponents, which is why we finished bottom,” he said.

“Arsenal were not that much better than us. They had just 57 percent of possession, but after our mistakes, they scored three goals and it was not easy to come back.”

“However, I am satisfied with our season in the Champions League. It was a big experience for our young team.”