We can win Champions League - Wenger

Arsene Wenger stressed his belief in Arsenal’s ability to win the Champions League after their biggest victory in the competition moved them to within touching distance of the quarter-finals.

After sweeping aside Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 at Highbury, Wenger believes that another home victory against Deportivo la Coruna in a fortnight’s time should confirm his side’s place in the last eight.

‘‘I said before the game that we would win. I have a great belief in the team as the spirit is unbelievably strong,’’ declared the Arsenal boss.

‘‘We have the talent and this team is getting better in every game. That’s why I’m very confident.

‘‘If I didn’t think we could win the Champions League, I would stop straight away. Of course it will be difficult and first of all we want to qualify, but we have a determination to do it.

‘‘The players believe in it, they know that we have the quality to do it.’’

Inspired by their French contingent, Arsenal’s display against the German league leaders certainly showed what they are capable of as they mounted their own goal of the season competition.

Robert Pires and Thierry Henry both capped flowing moves within the first seven minutes, while Patrick Vieira then headed home the third and Dennis Bergkamp scored with a memorable lob late on.

‘‘It was a great night and a great team performance. I feel spoiled as I’ve seen a few good goals here but they were all great goals,’’ added Wenger.

‘‘Thierry’s was a dream goal, it was everything you like in football movement, pace, technique and collective spirit.

‘‘Dennis needed a goal for his confidence. It was a special goal. You would have to come to the ground many times to see that.’’

Bergkamp added: ‘‘It’s always nice to score such a goal. He was off his line a lot during the game but you just try it and hope.

‘‘We have to look at qualification first but if we play like this, we shouldn’t have a problem. After that, anything is possible.’’

There were, however, two sour notes amid a continuing Arsenal injury problem, with 11 players already denied to Wenger due to fitness or suspension problems.

Firstly, there was confirmation that Giovanni van Bronckhorst will be out for an estimated nine months with a serious knee injury and then Lauren became the latest to fall foul to the left-back jinx with an ankle problem.

‘‘It was a bad tackle by Carsten Ramelow. I was very disappointed with it. It was stupid and not needed. I think it’s very unfair what he did,’’ stormed Wenger.

While he was praising the rejuvenated Vieira, as well as the reborn figure of Igor Stepanovs, Leverkusen boss Klaus Toppmoller was backing up Arsenal’s Champions League pretensions.

‘‘Arsene Wenger said Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester United are in the running. He has also said his own side can win it,’’ he said.

‘‘He has a good team and they have a good chance of at least reaching the final.

‘‘This was a clear defeat for us, we did everything wrong. We have to learn from this by imitating and copying Arsenal.

‘‘We saw there is a big difference between Bayer Leverkusen and Arsenal. It’s a joy to watch all the internationals in their team. We just hope we can play at their level in the future.’’