Villarreal --- (0)
Arsenal ---- (1)
By Richard Clarke in Villarreal
It has been a surprise even to Arsène Wenger that Arsenal’s Champions League campaign has been based on his defence.
They have reached the Champions League Semi-Final by getting a first leg lead and then protecting it. However, despite that record-breaking run of nine clean sheets, the manager knows his side can not afford to rely solely on the backline tonight at Villarreal.
A solitary goal from Kolo Toure won the opening rubber at Highbury last week. It puts the onus on the surprise Spanish side to break out of their compact, energetic formation at El Madrigal, their compact, energetic stadium, this evening in the second leg.
Arsenal will draw on the experience of decisive ties against Real Madrid and Juventus in the earlier rounds. Each time they had a lead going into the game, each time they cleverly balanced their attacking and defending instincts to achieve a goalless draw. Wenger’s wants more of the same tonight.
"Overall our defensive record is a bit of a surprise to me but I'm happy we have it,” he said. “This can be something that keeps the confidence up going into a game like this one.
"We have shown character against Juventus and Real Madrid and we need it again. It will be a more intimidating atmosphere because it is a small stadium and therefore I feel the heat will be higher.
"But we are solid defensively and every inch of confidence you get going into a game like this is important. Our record is something that can help.
“Let's try and score as well. That will be a big blow to them. You cannot go into a game 1-0 up and thinking you can just rely on that.
"I'm convinced Villarreal will play the same system with the 4-4-2. They will certainly be less timid than the first game. They will play a compact game but we have to play to win.
"It will be down to how we organise when we don't have the ball and how much we dare to go forward. We are a good team when we try to go forward.
“What will be important in midfield will be to win the ball back and then transform quickly into going forward that's why I will keep faith with the team who always play away from home.”
That last sentence seems to confirm that Wenger will field the 4-5-1 formation that has served him so well in Europe. The knee injury picked up by Philippe Senderos on Saturday has all but ended his season. Fortunately, Wenger has Sol Campbell fit again after undergoing surgery on the broken nose he suffered at Portsmouth. Gael Clichy has been named in an Arsenal squad for the first time since November and will be on the bench.
The Champions League has long been a holy grail for Arsenal. Of the eight seeds at the the start of the competition they were the only team that had not won the competition let alone never reached the Semi-Finals before.
The last question of a long day of press conferences on Monday enquired whether Wenger would prefer Milan or Barcelona in Paris on May 17.
"I will tell you tomorrow night,” he smiled. “Before that we'll just give 100 per cent in this game. We are not dreamers. We want to be successful and we want to put all our energy into this match and not start to dream about what could happen after."
If Wenger is true to his word then hopefully his answer is only a few hours away.
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