Match Preview: Arsenal Vs Marseille; The Gunners Are Favourites To Win And Possibly Qualify

Tomorrow's Group F UEFA champions league fixtures are guaranteed to make or mar the prospect of qualification in the long-run for the likes of Arsenal, Olympique Marseille, Borussia Dortmund and Olimpiacos. In the meantime, the north london outfit is occupying the highly coveted 1st spot courtesy of an impressive 7 points haul from 3 matches, closely followed by Ligue1 in-form side Marseille (6 points). A win for Arsenal and Group F's surprise back-bencher Dortmund (1 point), against Olimpiacos (3 points) will almost certainly guarantee the possibility of qualification for the Gunners.

Match Report: Udinese 1-2 Arsenal - Gunners Qualify 3-1 On Aggregate

Arsene Wenger and his lads have done it again by delivering the goods away at Udinese.

Udinese confident of home advantage against Arsenal

Udinese are undeniably the proverbial clog in the wheel of Arsenal's champions league dreams.

Vermaelen: "the fitness is good in the team"

Arsenal's belgian import Thomas Vermaelen says the team is ready to lock horns with Newcastle and Udinese in respect to next week's football business.

Arsenal set to play Udinese at home without Wenger, Nasri and Van Persie

Seria A side Udinese has being announced as the stumbling block of Arsenal's Champions League dreams.

Crouchy wants to grind us while Walcott wants Arsenal to grow up

Peter Crouch ensured the participation of Spurs in the final qualifying round of the Champions League yesterday as he scored the only goal of the match to postpone City's special night hopes.

The lanky striker, I presume is still relishing the prospect of tasting Champions League football, just like his good old days for Liverpool.

Although, I think the feel-good factor is

Xavi: I'm unhappy we lost

Now that the European dream is over, the midfielder has suddenly realised what it feels like to be knocked out of Europe's elite tournament.

Xavi's dedication to the Catalan giants can only be matched by a few players (inclusive of our very own Fabregas).

Olic halts Lyon's progress

The Germans are on course for a treble (Bundesliga, German Cup and the Champions League) this season.

Well, I know many of us have lost interest in the Champions League following that, uhm... Whatever - Bayern Munich are through to the final of the UEFA Champions League at the expense of Lyon.

Claude Puel's side were taught a bitter lesson at the Stade Gerland. The home team went into the game needing just a paltry scoreline (1-0, 3-1) to scale through, but it was the visitors who took the initiative. Muller, and Arjen Robben combined well and the resultant pass found it way to Olic, the Croat had all the time in the world to place his shot past Hugo Lloris, and he did so expertly to hand the German outfit the advantage with barely 30 minutes of action.

The home side's defense did their best to curtail the visitors intrusion, but their best was not good enough to checkmate the industrious Olic, who posed all sort of problems to Lyon grabbing a hat-trick in the process.

Bayern Munich's midfield duo of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mark Van Bommel, made sure Lyon's foray into their half was restricted. Although, the host fashioned out a few chances for themselves - Michel Bastos had a rare opportunity to restore parity at the Stade Gerland but his lack of composure resulted in his firing wide from close range.
The fans were outraged at the miss, but if they thought he had to score, then you might wonder what they'll make of Bafetimbi Gomis, the striker failed to control his volley and the Lyon faithful watched helplessly as their potential equaliser blazed well over Hans-Jorg Butt's goal.

If there was an iota of hope for OL in the second half, it gradually transformed into a nightmare as the "policeman" (Cris) received his marching orders from Swiss referee Massimo Busacca, for two-bookings in quick succession.

Down to 10 men, Lyon's perseverance was finally broken and the impressive Olic fired past the hapless Lloris to grab his second of the night,after a clever pass from Hamit Altintop.
Bayern closed every loophole and laid siege on Lloris's goal, at this point a third goal was almost inevitable and the Germans finished their mission as Olic deservedly completed his hat trick, heading in a Philip Lahm cross to ensure the safety of their progress.

Ferguson defends Premier League teams

Manchester United's manager Alex Ferguson who gambled on the fitness
of Wayne Rooney yesterday against Bayern Munich, despite the striker
being ruled out of action for a minimum of three weeks came to the
rescue of English teams after a barrage of discontentment from the
Media.

The seasoned tactician stated in unequivocal terms that the Premier
League is still the best and most attractive League in the world, even
though its representatives were dumped out earlier than expected.
English teams have dominated Europe for the last seven years, sending
at least one representative to the final since 2005. But how quickly
things change with Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal already out, United
had the semi finals in their sight until Arjen Robben crashed their
party via a sublime finish.

Fergie said: "I am sure you will read something into that. All the
English teams were expected to get to the semi finals, as they have
been doing over the last seven years. But I don't think that casts a
shadow over the English League, it is still the best League in Europe
and a very competitive League.

"You don't always get what you want in life and we are all suffering
from the same thing now," Ferguson said.

Chamakh: this might be my last Ucl match for Bordeaux

Arsenal transfer target Marouane Chamakh, is finally ready to join the Gunners.

The striker who scored Bordeaux's only goal against Lyon yesterday in
the second leg of their UEFA Champions League match was very proud of
his team's performance, but in the end he told the official website of
Ligue1: "We can be proud of our campaign. In the end it all came down
to small details, to some bad luck both in the first leg and tonight.

"We're happy with what we have done but frustrated because we had a
chance. Now we need to get back to work in the League. I think
tonight's (yesterday) match will steady the ship a bit. We were solid,
we didn't concede and we regained a strong state of mind.

"We'll have to hang onto our title and above all to qualify for the
Champions League again. Was it my last Champions League match for
Bordeaux? Maybe," the Moroccan international concluded.

Messi: why I humiliated Arsenal

First of all, permit me to refrain from further discussion pertaining
our embarrassing display in front of a mammoth crowd of spectators at
the Camp Nou yesterday.

Barcelona's one-man-rioter Lionel Messi has sensationally revealed why
he pummeled the Gunners like fromage frais.

In his interview with Barca Tv the diminutive striker said he was
spurred to action because of a bet with Barca's second choice
goalkeeper: "Pinto has a bet with me - I have to score more goals than
last season. That's why we count the goals every week," he enthused. I
have got a funny feeling Pinto will be paying sooner than he might
have expected.

The 22-year-old who single-handedly bundled the Gunners out of the Champions League attributed his four-goal haul to 'team work': "I am
lucky enough to be with a group of players that care about me a lot
and say nice things about me.

"We started off struggling a little, we had some bad luck we were able to react and the goals came thanks to teamwork. Today it was my turn,
another day it'll be Ibra and another Pedro... The main thing is to score. I was lucky enough to get the rebound and I hit it hard."

With breathtaking performances like that, the Argentinean is gradually
running out of records to break. He's the Club's 10th highest goal
scorer and the first to score four goals in a European competition.
This is what the undisputed prince of the beautiful round leather game of Soccer had to say concerning his performance against Arsenal at the Camp Nou yesterday: "I am very happy. The same as the other day when I scored three. It's always nice to score, especially in important matches."

Wolfgang Stark is our ref tonight

Germany's Wolfgang Stark will run things tonight at the Camp Nou.

The controversial referee will be assisted by Jan-Hendrik Salver and
Mike Pickel.
Hopefully they won't mess this up . . . .

Bojan: Arsenal will come out looking to score

Barcelona's striker Bojan Krkic says he won't lose sleep because of
Arsenal, but he will be surprised if the visitors go down without a
fight.

The youngster is adamant Barca can scale through the threat posed by
Arsenal in the quarter final of the competition.
He believes it will be strange if Barcelona fails to live up to the lofty
expectations of its fans and supporters, albeit he admits it won't
be easy for both sides at the Camp Nou.

Bojan told a press conference that Tuesday's Champions League match
against Arsenal will be "a real final". Just like Guardiola, the
youngster told his team mates to concentrate on today's encounter and
temporarily exclude Madrid from their thoughts: "Saturday's game will
come. Tomorrow we have a real final and we only want to concentrate on
that. The game against Arsenal will be a nice one a game to enjoy, at
a great venue. We are prepared to deal with it, to be sure. It is the
most important game, we have a lot at stake."

The Gunners fought back to secure an important draw at the Emirates
last week, and Bojan who praised Walcott's performance after the first
leg match of the tie is aware of what the visitors can do - his plan
to curtail Arsenal's game plan on Tuesday is very simple; they attack
first: "We have to go and attack in the game. If we do this we will
gain in many areas. They will come out looking to score, because they
have to."

Bojan might start for the Catalan giants because of Ibrahimovic's
absence (injury).
The striker said he was eager to play but quickly added: "The boss is
the best man to decide who plays. Nobody knows how to approach this
game better than he does. Whoever he picks, I'm sure it will be the
best option."

If he plays, Bojan stated in unequivocal terms that "I will do all I
can to help the team," If he doesn't get a game "I am very grateful to
the boss, and very happy to be able to play here, help my team mates,
and enjoy myself when I am given chances," he enthused.

Iniesta named in Barca squad

Contrary to media reports Barcelona has announced that midfielder
Andres Iniesta has been cleared by their medical team and will be
among 19 players in the squad for their game against Arsenal tomorrow.

Andres Iniesta trained with his team mates in their build-up for
Tuesday's Champions League quarter final second leg with Arsenal at
the Camp Nou.
The 19 players are ;
Valdes, Iniesta
Marques, Pinto,
Busquets, Xavi,
Iniesta, Jonathan,
Keita, Henry,
Messi, Jeffren,
Alves, Fontas,
Milito, Abidal, Maxwell,
Bojan and Pedro.

Guardiola: 'Arsenal match more important than Madrid'

Fresh from his side's impressive thumping of Athletic Club, Josep
Guardiola insists his team is eager to finish what they started in
London.

The gaffer is still rueing their misfortune at the Emirates and he
feels that the result will definately affect their campaign. To stress
the importance of next week's decider, Pep is positive the encounter
has what it takes to be "game of the year".
He said: "Next it's Arsenal, This is the most important of the year,
more important than the Bernabeu. If we beat Arsenal, we'll reach the
final to become Champions of the League and Europe," the tactician
enthused.

He deliberately refused to underrate the Gunners and made it clear
that "On Tuesday, nobody should be left alone. We know Arsenal will be
doing everything they can to win."

Meanwhile, Joan Laporta [president of Barcelona] was very happy with
the team's performance against Athletic Club, but he warned the team
that they cannot afford to mess up at the Camp Nou on Tuesday:
"A very good result after such a tiring game at the Emirates... I
value three points against a side that's doing so well as Athletic
Club." On next week's Champions League quarter final second leg: "We
have to focus on the Champions League. It's very important. We should
think of nothing more than Arsenal. We have to get through the round,"
he emphasized.

Bendtner: we can win at Camp Nou

Nicklas Bendtner is not scared of facing Barcelona at the Camp Nou
next week. The Danish striker engineered the Gunners comeback in the
first leg of the Champions League tie at the Emirates. He also
produced an impressive performance against Wolves yesterday in the
Barclays Premier League - spearheading the winner against the lowly
club.

The 22-year-old said: "We showed belief and we showed character. I
still think we can go through. It will take a monumental effort to win
in the Nou Camp. But Barcelona have lost there this season in a group
game against the lowly Russians of Rubin Kazan and they will also be
without first-choice central defenders Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol."

Match stats Arsenal v Barca

Read below a few match facts pertaining Wednesday's Champions League
quarter-final first leg tie between Arsenal and Barcelona in the
Emirates stadium.

It was a classical night to reminisce [that is if you are a supporter
of either team]. Honestly, the mere mention of Barca is certain to
spread anxiety amongst the Gunners themselves. They were outclassed
and outflanked, but they refused to surrender without a fight, luckily
our pertinacity came to the rescue. Anyway it aint over until next
week - maybe we can stage another magnificient comeback in an equally
fantastic atmosphere.

¤ Zlatan Ibrahimovic has put an end to his nightmare against English
opposition - He scored twice for the Catalan giants to earn them a
draw away at North London.

¤ Carles Puyol, Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique will be watching at
home or preferrably the stand. They are ineligible to play due to
suspensions.

¤ Carles Puyol commited just one foul and the referee Massimo Bussaca
decided it was worth a red card and a penalty for the Gunners.

¤ The visitors were six minutes shy of breaking Arsenal's invincible
European first leg record at home. Nobody has ever won at Arsenal away
in the first leg of a European competition.

¤ Guardiola's men fired 22 times. 43 per cent of those shots were in
the opening twenty minutes. 50 percent were on target. Almunia saved
43 per cent and only two goals breached the Gunners defence.

¤ Meanwhile, Arsenal managed just six shots. The Gunners found the
back of the net twice with just three shots on target. Victor Valdes
made just one save, from a Bendtner header.

¤ The visitors won more balls [64 - 53] , made more passes [694 -
404], and misplaced only a few percentage of their passes [91 - 100]. They also dominated proceedings
in the Emirates, garnering a whooping 70 per cent possession in the
first half and still managed more than 60 per cent in the early stage
of the second half.

Guardiola & Laporta react to draw

Barcelona's coach Josep Guardiola, rued their missed opportunities
last night at the Emirates, and he told Barca's official website that
next week the Gunners might attempt to reverse his team's away-goal
advantage at Camp Nou.

He expressed satisfaction at the way his team played yesterday against
a very good team like Arsenal. The ex Barca player opinionated that
his team won't contemplate the idea of commiting any blunder inside
their own backyard [Camp Nou] next week: "We are happy to have come
here, and show the English what we can do. Last year, we won
everything but we did not play away like we did today (yesterday). We
stopped them from showing their best qualities because we kept hold of
the ball. We have shown the World what we can do, although we still
have to prove ourselves by qualifying."

Joan Laporta: [President of Barcelona] maintained that he was
contented with the draw, despite admitting annoyance at the ease at
which they surrendered their two goal lead: "
Our draw at the Emirates stadium is a good result and as for the
return leg at Camp Nou, it is nice that the glass is half full."

The president added: "Everybody had a good game. But perhaps we lacked
the defination to sentence them." He refused to comment on any
refereeing issue and merely replied "that his focus was on the return
leg and how they will be starting with an advantage."
But he is sorry that the game at the Camp Nou will be missed by Puyol,
Pique and Cesc. "It is a shame, I'd have liked all of them to be
there," he concluded.

Barca players React to draw

Read below reactions from the Catalan stars who challenged the Gunners
to a duel in the Emirates yesterday.
[Henry, Pedro, Victor Valdes, Alves, Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Ibrahimovic].

Arsenal scored two late goals to salvage an important draw, that keeps
their Champions League ambition alive.
Meanwhile, Barca enjoyed the lion share of possession and taught the
Gunners some bitter lessons in the process. Final result Arsenal 2-2
Barcelona.

Henry: "It was a strange game, we could have won easily and yet we drew.
A draw is never a bad result in Europe. I played here for eight years
and that is hard to forget, I have mixed feelings."

Pedro: "They put a lot of pressure on us and it was not easy and they
scored two goals."
The youngster praised Walcott's speed and agility and believes the
21-year-old was the catalyst that changed Arsenal's night: "Walcott is
a very fast player, and he managed to score a goal. 2-2 is a good
result but given the circumstances you come away with a bad taste in
your mouth because we created chances and expected to win."

Victor Valdes: "We had a good first half, we felt comfortable and
created goal-scoring chances. But they scored twice in the second
half, and things changed radically. We are leaving with a bad taste in
our mouths because we played well and deserved a better result.
Under other circumstances, they could have scored the opening goal. We
have to take the best out of this and remember we still get to play
the second leg at home."

Alves: "We deserved to win. We want to carry on in this competition.
We played a great game against a great team. We had a great first
half, but in the second we couldn't generate the same chances. We have
got a bittersweet feeling about the result.
They came out strong in the second half, they created a lot of
pressure, but we were up to them.
The penalty was too much, but the result is still a good one. Although
they were at home, we played well and we deserved more than what we
got."

Sergio Busquets: "That was probably our best game of the season, this
team has plenty of quality."

Xavi: "We played well, we dominated. If only we could play like that
all the time," he enthused. "Their first goal came from our own
mistake. Watching the game we should have sentenced the match. It was
a great game and we can go away knowing we were vastly superior to
Arsenal," the midfielder declared.

Ibrahimovic: "They scored two late goals but it was a great result all the same.
We did all we could to win, but they scored. That's the Champions
League, you have to play from the beginning to the end, until the
referee blows for time. We have to take the second leg positively.
I am happy with the goals, but happier for the team. 2-2 is a good
result and we still have the second leg at home."

Massimo Bussaca will run things tonight

Controversial Swiss ref Massimo Bussaca, who recieved a three-match
ban (domestic league) from the Swiss Football Association (SVF) last
year for unprofessional conduct - will officiate tonight's Champions
League match between Arsenal and Barcelona in the Emirates.

His assistants are; Mathias Arnet and Francesco Buragina plus fourth
referee Claudio Circhetta.

Hopefully, he won't mess this up! ! !