We could still win Champions League - Wenger
Arsene Wenger has insisted Arsenal’s troubled season could still become the greatest in the club’s history – if they win the Champions League.
Arsenal sustained a serious blow to their European hopes in a 3-1 first leg defeat at Bayern Munich amid an “horrendous” defensive display in which Wenger admits the team “panicked“.
But he has still not given up hope of a recovery and, with four leading sides set to go out before the quarter-finals, he believes the route to the final could open up for the winners of their tie.
While Arsenal are effectively out of the title race, as well as facing a tricky FA Cup sixth-round tie at Bolton, Wenger remains defiantly positive ahead of what will be a decisive week.
He has been plagued by injuries and suspensions to key players, undermined by the alleged illegal approach for Ashley Cole and had to cope with problems over Robin van Persie and Jermaine Pennant.
However, when asked if this could still be Arsenal’s best season, Wenger, who has previously won two doubles and gone through an entire league campaign unbeaten, insisted: “Yes, it could be.
“We are not where we want to be in the championship as we have lost points through a lack of focus or defensive concentration.
“But there have been many positives and, going forward, it’s certainly our best season.”
He added: “I cannot say it was my worst season as I’ve had worse in my life, although a long time ago.
“The expectation levels are so high that if you’re not five points clear in February, it’s a disaster. But you have many other good teams in England, while we are still in the FA Cup and the Champions League.
“If you consider the number of players we’ve lost and the number of young players we have, I cannot say it is a disastrous season.
“In fact, with the number of problems we’ve had since the start of the season, you could be quite happy to be where we are.”
As well as either Arsenal or Bayern, Chelsea or Barcelona, Manchester United or AC Milan and Real Madrid or Juventus will go out before the next round.
So if Arsenal manage to secure an unlikely second-leg comeback, Wenger believes this could be their best chance of making it to the semi-finals and beyond for the first time.
“Yes, we feel like that. But first let’s get through. The most difficult part is still in front of us,” he insisted.
“Let’s not give in for one second. Then we could have a big chance. It’s a big game for the club.
“You don’t want to put too much pressure on Thierry Henry. I’m sure that he’ll want to produce but the most important thing is the team performance. There’s no point in scoring three goals if we concede two.”
While Arsenal have the potential to score at least twice against Bayern at Highbury, the odds of a clean sheet without Sol Campbell are rather worse, especially after their defensive woes in Munich.
“In Germany, it was less down to a lack of marking and more that we panicked a bit. Defensively, we made dangerous situations out of situations where there was no danger,” admitted Wenger.
“I just expected us to perform better. I don’t think that was down to a lack of resources, it was down to our team performance. We had an horrendous defensive performance.”
While Campbell and Robert Pires are still injured, Dennis Bergkamp, who did not travel to Munich as he does not fly, will be included, while Edu is rated 50-50 to return from a hamstring problem.
Wenger promised: “We will give a much better performance in the second leg, don’t worry about that. Ideally, we need a clean sheet. But I feel the players will be really up for it.”
