Cesc: we beat best side in history at own game
The skipper said: “They don’t lose many games. They are the best side in football’s history in my opinion.
“This is 180 minutes. It’s a nice victory. It will give confidence to the team but that’s all.”
Arsene Wenger insists his team go to Barcelona believing they can knock the favourites out of the Champions League after what he described as a “special football night”.
Wenger hopes the victory will see his team fulfil their huge potential after five years without a trophy.
“We played against the best team in the world and we managed to beat them. They are an exceptional side and Barcelona are still the team to beat in Europe,” he said.
“It’s a special lift for my team. I believe our players have shown exceptional strength and togetherness and this result will reinforce that.”
Arsenal played Barcelona in the quarter-finals last season, drawing 2-2 before losing 4-1 to a Lionel Messi-inspired Barca at the Camp Nou; Wenger hopes his current side will not suffer the same fate. “We are not favourites, but we believe we have a chance and we’ll go for it. Barca is still favourite but we know we can beat them, we didn’t know that last year.
“This result gives us a chance to go to Barcelona with belief and I’m highly delighted. It was a special football night. The game promised a lot and absolutely fulfilled it.”
Wenger proved his determination to stick to his principles when he took off defensive midfielder Alex Song in the second half and replaced him with attacker Andriy Arshavin — who went on to score the winner after Robin van Persie had equalised.
“I took a gamble,” he admitted. “But I had to do it, we needed two goals. I’m very proud because everybody urged us to play differently to our nature. It’s good we didn’t. Now this result can strengthen the belief in our philosophy and that’s most important.”
It’s a philosophy shared by Barca and by their manager Pep Guardiola, who still believes his side can go through.
“These guys have shown before their quality,” he said. “But we know Arsenal are a very good team and we admire their quality and style. They will attack and we will attack. If you have nothing to do, go to Barcelona because I think it’ll be a good game!”
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