Juventus (0) v Arsenal (2) Stadio delle Alpi, kick-off 7.45It might just get ugly at the Stadio delle Alpi tonight, but that would never be part of Arsenal's plan. The Highbury players have been volatile in the past but seldom cynical.

After the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final, Arsene Wenger's side are here to make the most of their 2-0 lead and, if at all possible, to vindicate the manager's idealism.

Recent weeks have enshrined his club as the last of England's representatives in the tournament and his side now have it in their hands to claim fourth place in the English Premiership and so ensure a return to the Champions League next season.

Wenger is in a more comfortable position nowadays when expounding his philosophy.

Where the rigour of Chelsea and Liverpool has failed, his expressive approach to the game is prevailing. Effectiveness, it seems, need not be divorced from artfulness. Wenger is sure the aesthetically pleasing teams can dominate both the popular imagination and honours.

"People only copy successful teams," he said. "I think the big teams in history - Real Madrid and Milan - all play good football. It can accidentally happen that teams that are more economical and efficient (succeed), but in the longer term you last only with quality players."

Economical? Efficient? It might have been a jibe at Jose Mourinho's Porto and by extension the Portuguese's current club Chelsea, but Wenger's views are part of a deep, unresolved debate that predates him and will never reach a conclusion. This is a matter of colliding instincts over the nature of the sport.

The pragmatism that Wenger rejects will be manifested in the Juventus approach tonight. "I expect them to try and score early," said the Arsenal manager, "and to go a little bit British-style in attack. They might go direct to try and put us under pressure, because they have two guys (David Trezeguet and Zlatan Ibrahimovic) who are good in the air and Pavel Nedved is a good, penetrating player on the second ball."

If an onslaught is likely, Arsenal are at least hale. Cesc Fabregas, who shaped the win over Juventus at Highbury, has recovered from a bruised foot, and Emmanuel Eboue is expected to confirm his fitness, after a groin strain, today.

Fabio Capello's line-up is diminished by suspension, but Wenger is far from gleeful and he appreciates that the standing his side enjoys is a very recent development.

"Two months ago everybody considered us to be a joke and now suddenly we are favourites to win the European Cup," the manager commented wryly. "The truth is in between."

When the longer view is taken, it is Arsenal's persistent disappointments on the Continent that catch the eye. Wenger wonders if the sustained impact in domestic football has come at a price. He leaves his listeners, too, to note that this factor certainly does not apply now.

"I have thought about what happened," Wenger explained. "Is it form? Is it the fact that you lose too much strength in the FA Cup? I don't really know.

"For example, two years ago when we were unbeaten in the Premiership we lost to Chelsea (in the Champions League quarter-final). You couldn't even say it was a European problem. It was a domestic problem."

Arsenal have coped with every difficulty presented to them by the Champions League in this campaign. The win over Juventus followed a tie with Real Madrid that was conducted with maturity.

Having won 1-0 at the Bernabeu, Arsenal had to handle a trying return match without being so foolish as deliberately to seek the goalless draw they achieved.

Wenger regards that night as a rehearsal for the situation that must be dealt with at the Stadio delle Alpi. Arsenal are always better when they play as if a win is essential, even if there is in reality a safety margin.

"You could miss out, but you must not be scared to play your game," he said in describing the approach taken against Real at Highbury. "We have to have the same mixture again. You have to not only to defend well but also attack every time you can."

His rather callow side might look vulnerable in any war of nerves, but Wenger does not admit to hankering after a few more old hands in his line-up.

"It is a good test," said Wenger, "a young team can show that experience is not compulsory and that it is more down to character."

According to the manager, triumph in the tournament is at the outskirts of his thinking. "The European Cup is so far away," Wenger said.

Nonetheless, it will look far closer if, as expected, Arsenal eject Juventus and go on to what appears on paper a softer semi-final.