Champions League Preview: Arsenal v Juventus


C’mon Patrick! We Can Do It!

Tomorrow will see one of Arsenal’s greatest ever players to return to Highbury, in a defining match in Arsenal’s season.

Vieira has had little swipes at Arsenal, claiming Juventus is a much better place to be because there is a hunger which was lacking at Highbury. Arsene Wenger on the other hand has chosen the run up to the massive Champions League clash to reveal it was difficult to tell Vieira he was no longer wanted anymore. We all knew that but Wenger has re-iterated the point to add spice to the tie.

Meanwhile, Jose Antonio Reyes has praised the former captain, and talked about how great Vieira was in helping the little Spaniard settle in at Arsenal.

The telegraph have an interesting article on Patrick Vieira’s performance against Roma at the weekend, which critics say was below par for most of the game.

But to be honest I don’t care what they say – we know what Vieira can do and he is more that capable of grabbing a game by the scruff of the neck and ripping sides apart. Let’s just hope he has a poor game tomorrow night…

Of the players that could have possibly made the squad for tomorrow night only Jose Antonio Reyes is available, which is good news since Freddie is still out. Even though Ljungberg’s form in the league has been inconsistent, his performances in Europe have been superb so he will be a big loss. Sol Campbell is still out and with Senderos and Toure forming a solid partnership I can’t say I’m all that bothered.

Hleb and Eboue’s partnership down the right will be important to Arsenal’s success, and you would have to say Reyes would get the nod over Pires on the left hand side. With Wenger deploying 4-5-1 in Europe and Freddie out, it’s a toss up between Bergkamp, Pires and Van Persie for the 5th midfielder role.

It might even be a night for Cesc to push up further up the pitch, and Diaby could partner Gilberto in the middle. But we’ll see…

Juventus are missing their star man Pavel Nedved through suspension, and Del Piero is injured – although from what I understand has been mostly on the bench this season anyway.

Our record against Italian teams is a bit up and down, but we all remember the magical night at Highbury a few seasons ago when a Freddie double and a magnificent Henry freekick gave us a 3-1 win over Juventus.

I’m getting goosebumps already… This is going to be a hell of a game!

Stuff dreams are made of – Real Madrid and now Juve!

 

2 thoughts on “Champions League Preview: Arsenal v Juventus

  1. I say the line up hould be:
    Lehmann
    Eboue Toure Senderos Flamini
    Hleb Cesc Gilberto Diaby Reyes/Pires
    Henry

    Diaby and Cec will have to help Henry through the middle and try and help Gilberto. Wanna see how Diaby does against Vieira. Will also give Cesc a bit more space to play in Henry, Hleb and Reyes/Pires. Walcott and Van Persie should come on late on. I trust Wenger to get it right!

     
  2. agree with that line up totally. but wenger wont play Diaby in my opinion. He’d rather have Pires as supporting striker to Henry, or just play 4-4-2 with RVP up top. cant wait though.

     

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