Arsenal can go all the way, says Ibrahimovic
A goalless draw in Turin on Wednesday night saw Arsenal progress to the last four of Europe’s elite competition and a semi-final meeting with Spanish side Villarreal.
And Sweden international Ibrahimovic believes the Gunners are capable of beating tournament favourites Barcelona should the two meet in the final in Paris on May 17.
“Arsenal are the team of the moment,” he said.
“They are capable of going all the way, even of beating Barcelona.”
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon insists his side deserve their fans’ respect after being booed by their own supporters on Wednesday.
Buffon, the world’s most expensive goalkeeper, insists Juve fans should not judge the club’s season on recent performances.
“We always knew it was going to be difficult,” he said.
“But it’s no failure because this year we will win something else.
“We are likely to win the Scudetto and we cannot forget that there are some teams that don’t win one or the other. We demand respect.”
With six games left to play, Juve are nine points clear of AC Milan at the top of the Serie A standings.
However, this appeared of little comfort for the supporters, with their side out-thought and out-fought by English opposition for the second straight year. Buffon reckons Juve threw away the tie at Highbury.
“We didn’t play well in the opening leg,” said the Italy international.
“We made our lives difficult and it’s very complicated to overturn a 2-0 deficit against a team like Arsenal, who appear to have found some togetherness they lacked some time ago.”
Team-mate Fabio Cannavaro admitted his team lacked the spirit and strength of their rivals.
The Bianconeri did show more determination in the return leg than they did at Highbury but it was too little, too late.
“We are showing more fatigue than we did two months ago,” he said.
“In order to progress in Europe you need a little bit of fortune and we didn’t have it.
“We lacked strength up front and needed to be more focused in both legs. The only certainty is that we are out and it hurts.”
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