Despite having the psychological advantage going into Wednesday’s crunch quarter final clash with Chelsea, Arsene is still wary that the Chelsea players will not let us walk all over them.
After all, Wenger knows that Chelsea’s players, who have retained their backing for Ranieri, could play their hearts out for their under-pressure manager.
“We just have to ignore it as we don’t know if it will have a positive or negative impact on their side.”
“If this was an end-of-season game and Chelsea had nothing to play for then it could be disturbing for them but this game is so big that I don’t think it will have a big influence.”
Wenger referred to how close we were to being knocked out in the 1st group stage and then stressed on the importance of showing the team has progressed since losing out to Valencia in the quarter finals three years ago.
“We aren’t under pressure as we were 99% out of the competition at one point. But we have confidence as we now know how to win in the Champions League.”
“It has been long enough for the players since then (losing to Valencia on away goals in 00/01). This is a good occasion to show we have improved since then. I feel we have and our consistency shows that.
“Our confidence has never been as high as it is now. We have won five games on the trot in Europe and are doing well in the Premiership.
“You wouldn’t find many times in the club’s history that you would be chasing the title, in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
“But football is not predictable and Chelsea are a good side. A top-class performance will still be needed.”