ARSENE WENGER dared not even mention Barcelona as possible opponents last night as he surveyed Arsenal’s prospects for today’s Champions League last-16 draw.
Wenger’s side were the only English team not to top their group and now have their fingers crossed that they pull out Schalke from the pot and not Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Pep Guardiola’s seemingly unstoppable Barcelona.
Arsenal boss Wenger refused to confirm that Schalke would be his dream draw from those four, but everything he said pointed to a desire to avoid Barcelona, the team who dumped out the Gunners last season.
Wenger said: “It doesn’t matter who I want because even if I say we want Barcelona you will not believe me. I hope we get who I feel we will get.” Wenger watched in wonder with the rest of Europe as Messi and Co dismantled Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid 5-0 last month and believes a new bar has been set on the continent. Barcelona’s players made 684 passes in that match, more than twice as many as their opponents.
Wenger said: “On the night Barcelona were outstanding and played at too high a pace. It was some of the best football I have ever seen.
“What was surprising was that they had no weak moments in that game and their determination and their focus was for 90 minutes spot-on. When you see a performance like that you are encouraged to get to that level. It is certainly the best performance of the season.”
“One day you can have a weak moment, a day when you are not completely at your best – and then Barcelona turn up. It happened to us last year in the first 30 minutes.”
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