UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Arsenal v Ajax. Whatever the score against Ajax at Highbury, it is hard to imagine Arsene Wenger kicking a boot across the dressing-room and splitting Patrick Vieira's face. Yet Wenger made clear yesterday a "big animal" lurks inside his calm exterior.
As Alex Ferguson assessed the inadvertent damage done to David Beckham, Wenger talked of how he controls his feelings. He said his cool appearance came from mastering his emotions, not a natural placidity.
"The bigger the animal is inside the more you have to learn to keep him under control," said Arsenal's manager, who refused to comment on Ferguson's actions.
"There's a big animal inside me. I have learned to control that and focus. To survive in this job you need passion. But you learn what's important is: once the game is over, it's over.
"If you are stopped by the police, you can hit the policeman or think maybe you have done something wrong. It's the same in football. You have to analyse things."
Tonight, Wenger wants his side to take a big stride towards a quarter-final by beating an injury-hit Ajax and in Amsterdam next week.
Arsenal are without Freddie Ljungberg and Oleg Luzhny this evening. Ljungberg is still ruled out with an Achilles injury, while Luzhny has not yet recovered from a calf problem.
Gilberto Silva, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp are set to return to the side after being rested from the starting line-up for the FA Cup at Old Trafford last weekend.
Gilberto's return should see Robert Pires returning to his familiar slot on the left flank, with Sylvain Wiltord on the right.
Ajax coach Ronald Koeman has injury problems with defender John O'Brien, midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, playmaker Jari Litmanen and striker Ahmed Hossam all out. Defender Andre Bergdolmo and midfielder Richard Witschge have been included in the squad after injury.
In the group's other match, Roma playmaker Francesco Totti is out of the side to face Valencia in Rome after failing to recover from a thigh injury. Totti, whose season has already been disrupted by a knee injury, came off at halftime during Roma's weekend draw with Brescia.
In his absence, 20-year-old Antonio Cassano is expected to deputise, though Roma will undoubtedly miss their captain and most influential player.
This is just the latest blow to coach Fabio Capello as he tries to win his first points in the second phase and steer his team off the bottom of Group B.
Roma are already without midfielders Emerson, who is suspended, and Olivier Dacourt, ineligible because he played for Leeds United in the UEFA Cup.
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
ARSENAL (4-4-2): Seaman; Lauren, Keown, Campbell, Cole; Wiltord, Gilberto Silva, Vieira, Pires; Bergkamp, Henry.
AJAX (3-5-2): Lobont; Pasanen, Chivu, Bergdolmo; Trabelsi, Pienaar, Galasek, Sneijder, Maxwell; Van der Meyde, Ibrahimovic.
On TV: TV3, UTV (7.45)
