Arsene Wenger believes that the 2011 win against Barcelona should uplift his players ahead of a tense clash with the Catalans.
Arsenal beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium five years ago, coming from behind after being down 1-0, scoring two goals in the span of five minutes from Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin.
The Gunners take on Barca again in the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League and the manager believes their previous win should boost his players’ confidence, as reported by the club’s official website.
The memory [I have] is that the winning goal was scored by Arshavin after we suffered for a big part of the game – we should be encouraged by that.
We suffered in the first half and in the second half we slowly came back into the game and became very dangerous.
That should help us in our [upcoming] game against Barcelona. If we have uncomfortable moments then we should have in our minds that we can still win even if it is difficult.
It was really special [to win in 2011]. What I also remember as well is that it reminded me of how football is really as a team because you can deliver something exceptional.
However, the Frenchman recognised that that the game ‘brings you down to earth’, visiting Leyton Orient just days later.
Three or four days later we went to Leyton Orient and drew in the FA Cup. In the same week that we were on a high, we were down again, but it will certainly be remembered as one of the exceptional nights at the Emirates.
Arsenal face Hull City in the FA Cup this weekend, before shifting their focus to the Barcelona clash.
