Wenger makes Eastern promise after past failures
The Gunners headed to Ukraine for their Group G opener against Dynamo on the back of three straight wins, scoring 11 goals without reply.
However, Arsenal have in the past failed to find their form when travelling to the eastern fringes in Europe’s elite club competition.
Wenger’s men were beaten on their previous trips to Moscow — the last against CSKA two years ago following a 4-1 drubbing to Spartak in 2000/2001 campaign, and have lost twice to Dynamo in 1998 and again in 2003 — while they were on the end of a 3-0 reverse with Shakhtar Donetsk.
However, this time around — when the 17,000-capacity Stadion Valeriy Lobanovskyi will play host venue rather than the Olympic Stadium, which is being rebuilt ahead of Euro 2012 — the Arsenal manager believes things will be different.
Wenger said: “Usually football in this region can be a little bit destabilising because if you do not prepare mentally well, you can be surprised by the level of commitment here.
“We have had some bad experiences in this part of Europe before, but when we lacked experience we were always surprised by that level of commitment and enthusiasm we got from Kiev.
“I believe we have learned that any place in the world is difficult and I believe mentally we can cope with that better now.”
Wenger added: “What is important is that we play well. At the stadium, they get a big support. We have enough experience to deal with that.
“But what is important when you go into a game like that is to play at least as close as possible to your full potential. In a Champions League game you do not get away with less.”
After recovering from the defeat at Fulham in the Barclays Premier League, Arsenal have picked up their form and head into their European campaign full of confidence after the 4-0 victory at Blackburn, in which striker Emmanuel Adebayor scored a hat-trick.
“It took us a while to get going and to play at our full potential. Now everybody looks physically ready to play at the top level,” said Wenger.
“The plan is to qualify first and qualify as quickly as possible.
“Last year [in Europe] is a good example to take and we know that we can win away from home.
“We just won comfortably at Blackburn and that gives us the needed confidence that we achieve that in the Champions League.
“We know in Kiev it is always a very, very difficult place and we respect that — but it is important to start well.
“To knock Spartak Moscow out (in the qualifiers) and score eight goals, that is one advantage — it will keep us on our toes and prepare mentally very well because that is a remarkable performance.”
Despite being wary of the threat posed by the Ukrainians, Wenger insisted the Gunners fear no-one.
“We are happy to play football — we are afraid of nobody in the world,” he said.
“But we respect Dynamo Kiev because I feel mainly their strength is that they are very efficient as a team.
“They are a very hard working team with good discipline, and they can score goals. In that kind of game, you want to defend well.
“But as well we are an attacking team so we are only happy when we score goals.”
Neither of Arsenal’s summer signings travelled, with both Sami Nasri and Mikael Silvestre left in London to continue rehabilitation from minor ankle and thigh problems respectively.
Young Mexican striker Carlos Vela did make the trip and is set to be a substitute, along with fellow teenager Jack Wilshere.
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