ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger admits he would love the chance for a revenge mission against Manchester United or Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-finals. Wenger’s side swept into the la st eight with a majestic 5-0 victory over Porto at the
Emirates Stadium that sealed a 6-2 aggregate triumph in the second round tie.
Nicklas Bendtner was the Gunners’ hero with the first hat-trick of his career, but sublime displays from Samir Nasri, who scored a brilliant solo goal, and Andrey Arshavin put Wenger in unusually fiesty form after Tuesday’s match.
Winning in such style without captain Cesc Fabregas, key defender William Gallas and star forward Robin van Persie clearly got Wenger’s juices flowing as he claimed Arsenal would fancy their chances against Premier League rivals United or Chelsea.
Arsenal have already lost all four league meetings with United and Chelsea this season, as well losing the Champions League semi-final to Sir Alex Ferguson’s team last season and the FA Cup semi-final last year against Chelsea.
But Wenger insisted he would be happy to play either in the next round of Europe’s elite club competition.
“I have a funny feeling maybe it’s good for us to play an English team,” Wenger said.
“We have not done well against Chelsea and against Man U this year and it would be a good chance to show we can do it against them. If we get them we can’t do worse than we did in the Premier League.
“What I don’t want is a negative obssession with avoiding Chelsea or Man Utd.
“We are happy to be in the last eight. It is never easy to be in the top eight in Europe. The negative side of that is you only have good teams left now.”
After being widely written off several times this season, Arsenal showed they are made of sterner stuff than many believed with the kind of magical display that suggests they could yet end their five-year wait for silverware.
They are still in the hunt for the title and will fancy their chances against anyone in Europe on this form, yet Wenger admits there is still plenty of room for improvement.
“At the beginning of the season nobody expected this team to be where they are but it is important to improve more. There are still some weak moments in the game when we need to improve,” he said.
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