INTERNATIONAL Rescue will have nothing on Arsenal if the north London club manages to pull tonight's UEFA Cup tie out of the fire. Arsene Wenger may look more like Brains than Virgil Tracy but his dash to the accident scene of the Gunners' European campaign could yet become the stuff of legend.

For that to happen, the manager-elect's flying visit must inspire Arsenal to a win by two clear goals against Borussia Moenchengladbach tonight thus overhauling the 3-2 defeat the team sustained two weeks ago. But there are grounds for optimisim.

First, the Arsenal team will contain the stalwart centre-back pairing of Bould and Adams, plus the increasingly influential midfield talents of Patrick Vieira, all missing from the first leg.

Second, Arsenal's fighting spirit is alive and kicking again, as witnessed by their heady position of third in the Premiership - all achieved without a manager. Add the team's extensive European experience and who knows.

Wenger, the master strategist, is confident: "Moenchengladbach are a strange team," he says, "in the German league they won 4-0, then lost 4-0, then they won 5-1, so maybe they will lose 4-0 next against us."

Certainly Arsenal showed in the first leg that they are capable of creating chances against the Moenchengladbach defence, while their own back line, now boasting Adams and Bould, will be confident of avoiding the sort of errors that led to the Germans' three goals.

A solution may not be so easy to find of how to shackle Stefan Effenberg, whose effortless mastery in midfield provided the catalyst for Moenchengladbach's first-leg win.

The Germans are playing in Cologne because their own ground does not meet UEFA standards.