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Arsene Wenger hails Arsenal's desire & mental strength following Champions League victory over Porto
Frenchman calls for more improvement...
10 Mar 2010 08:38:00
By Adithya Ananth
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has lavished praise on the mental strength and desire shown by his charges in their 5-0 rout over Porto to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The Gunners had conceded two "schoolboy" goals in the first leg of the double header with the Portuguese outfit, and had succumbed to a 2-1 loss at the Estadio do Dragao.
However, a hat-trick from Nicklas Bendtner, a sublime strike from Samir Nasri, and an Emmanuel Eboue goal from a one-on-one situation created by a lightning counter-attack ensured that the north London club ran away 6-2 winners on aggregate.
"It is never easy to be in the top eight in Europe," said the former Monaco boss.
"The negative side is you only have good teams now - Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea, so it will be difficult.
"At the beginning of the season, nobody expected this team to be where we are, but we showed we have mental strength, we have good desire and good quality."
Despite bathing his side in adulation, 'The Professor' insisted that the team must iron out their errors if they are to have any hope of winning their maiden Champions League trophy.
Wenger added: "I believe it is more important on our side to continue to improve - there are still some weak moments in the game we can deal with better, so before we talk about Barcelona or Manchester United it is important we continue to improve, then we have a chance."
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The Gunners had conceded two "schoolboy" goals in the first leg of the double header with the Portuguese outfit, and had succumbed to a 2-1 loss at the Estadio do Dragao.
However, a hat-trick from Nicklas Bendtner, a sublime strike from Samir Nasri, and an Emmanuel Eboue goal from a one-on-one situation created by a lightning counter-attack ensured that the north London club ran away 6-2 winners on aggregate.
"It is never easy to be in the top eight in Europe," said the former Monaco boss.
"The negative side is you only have good teams now - Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea, so it will be difficult.
"At the beginning of the season, nobody expected this team to be where we are, but we showed we have mental strength, we have good desire and good quality."
Despite bathing his side in adulation, 'The Professor' insisted that the team must iron out their errors if they are to have any hope of winning their maiden Champions League trophy.
Wenger added: "I believe it is more important on our side to continue to improve - there are still some weak moments in the game we can deal with better, so before we talk about Barcelona or Manchester United it is important we continue to improve, then we have a chance."
| Sign up with 188BET for a FREE bet up to £25 – Great Prices, Every Game |
|
| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
| Sign up with Paddy Power - Bet £10, Get £20! |
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