Morale low in Celta camp after defeat by Espanyol
Saturday's inexplicable 5-1 home defeat to fellow strugglers Espanyol left morale dented and, despite having a squad littered with quality players, Primera Liga relegation a stark possibility.
Celta find themselves third-bottom, and not even the arrival of new coach Raddy Antic has been able to galvanise a winning mentality.
Striker Savo Milosevic has complained about a lack of togetherness on the pitch, while others such as Alexander Mostovoi clearly feel the trip to London, where they have to overturn a 3-2 deficit against the in-form Gunners, is little more than a glorified tourist excursion.
Even the club president Horacio Gomez, despite his outward optimism, is aware his club is in crisis.
"We are in the last 16 and with a chance of reaching the quarter-finals, why not? Greater things have been done in worse situations," he said.
"Once this game is over, we will talk. There are things we have to look at and we will do that after the game in London," he added.
"I don't want any excuses. The only players who can get us out of trouble are the ones we have they are the players who qualified for the Champions League last season."
Celta goalkeeper Pablo Cavallero is set to return to action at Highbury. Cavallero has missed the last two league games with a broken nose which he suffered when Edu scored Arsenal's opening goal two weeks ago.
He will replace Pinto, who had a nightmare in Saturday's defeat by Espanyol, but Cavallero admits that he is already thinking ahead to the weekend when Celta entertain high-flying Valencia.
"We are travelling with a bad result from the first leg, but we have to play," said Cavallero.
"We know it is difficult because Arsenal are a great side, they are in their home ground and we lost the first leg but we have to try. We have a very important game in the league at the weekend and we will be able to see our chances in that on Wednesday."
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