Champions League - FC Porto v Arsenal:ARSENE WENGER has urged his understrength Arsenal side to "dig deep" and summon up a "special" performance against Porto tonight after losing the spine of his first-choice team to untimely injuries.
William Gallas and Manuel Almunia have joined the likes of Alex Song, Andrey Arshavin and Eduardo da Silva by remaining in rehabilitation at London Colney after succumbing to calf and finger complaints respectively, stripping Wenger of key personnel for what is likely to prove an awkward first leg.
Arsenal have never won in Portugal and have recorded only one win in their last seven trips in the Champions League proper, and will confront a Porto side unbeaten in eight domestic games.
The Gunners have prospered against the odds before, reaching the 2006 final despite losing key players en route, with Wenger calling upon this younger side to emulate the resilience shown four years ago.
“We need to revive that spirit from 2006,” said Wenger. “We need to dig deep. We need to be defensively solid, but not cautious.
“That means when you have the ball you have to play. But you do not go to Porto, who have played 10 consecutive seasons in the Champions League, and get away with an easy game. They are a dangerous side, and we know that. We need to be special.
“We cannot turn up in the last 16 with an average game [and expect to succeed].”
While Song’s knee injury and Arshavin’s hamstring strain, both sustained in the Premier League victory over Liverpool last week, had always rendered them doubtful for the game, other absentees are unexpected.
Eduardo, who had been out for three weeks with a hamstring complaint, suffered a relapse in training on Monday and, like Arshavin, will now miss Saturday’s visit of Sunderland. Gallas’s calf problem will keep him out until the beginning of next month.
Wenger is expected to hand Sol Campbell his first European Cup appearance since he scored for Arsenal against Barcelona in the 2006 final alongside Thomas Vermaelen. They must nullify Porto’s impressive front-line of Falcao and Hulk, supplied by the playmaker Raul Mereiles. Lukasz Fabianski will play only his sixth game of the season after Almunia aggravated a finger problem.
“Manuel had twisted the top of his finger so we gave him an injection ahead of the Manchester United game, and he played with pain against Chelsea and Liverpool,” said Wenger. “But, three days ago, he hurt the lower part of his finger in training. You cannot play with the whole finger hurt, and he would be a doubt for Saturday as well.
“We have to show in this game that we can deal with having people out. I have complete faith in Fabianski. He is of the top level, with massive potential. He has shown he has exceptional talent, but that he also lacks a little bit of experience. Don’t forget that one of the greatest goalkeepers ever in England, David Seaman, made mistakes at 22 or 23, too. That’s part of the learning process. Lukasz is a very intelligent goalkeeper and he will have learned from the mistakes he has made.”
The most critical of those errors arguably came in last season’s FA Cup semi-final, lost 2-1 to a Didier Drogba-inspired Chelsea, though Fabianski has already endured cup defeats to Stoke and Manchester City this term, along with the Champions League group game at Olympiakos in December. The Pole was quoted extensively in his homeland this week suggesting he is growing frustrated at a lack of first-team opportunities in London, but will need to justify Wenger’s faith this evening.
Yet it is Campbell’s return to Europe’s elite competition that is truly staggering given that, only last September, the 35-year-old was losing with Notts County at Morecambe in League Two.
“Certainly, when he signed for County, he would not have thought he would be involved in a Champions League game now,” added Wenger. “But that’s football. When you have quality, you can always come back. Sol has experience – that’s one of the key reasons we re-signed him – and that could be invaluable for us.
“People point to our away form in Europe but look at Real Madrid – they have gone out in the last five seasons at the last 16 stage so, in that context, I think our record in the Champions League is not bad. We are in a position at Porto where we are 50-50. It is so tight, but the difference will be mental. We have to show that we have that extra something, which will give us an advantage.”
Guardian Service
