Theo Walcott... focusing on domestic competitions
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With Champions League qualification achieved by beating Standard Liege 2-0 last week, Theo Walcott is looking forward to concentrating on domestic competitions over the winter.
The 20-year-old played the last half-hour against Liege last Tuesday as the Gunners took the three points needed to top Group H with a game to spare.
It is the 10th consecutive season that Arsenal have made it through the Group Stage of Europe’s premier competition, a feat made all the more impressive when some of the other results from this season’s Champions League are taken into account.
“Well of course Liverpool didn’t make it, although I think they will do well in the Europa League,” Walcott told the Official Matchday Programme. “Then there is Inter Milan who have got a bit to do still, Bayern Munich are struggling too so it’s not easy.
"We are only worried about ourselves though, and getting through, which we have done now. With all the important games we have coming up, it’s nice to get qualification sorted a game early.
"We will still want to win that last game in Greece. We want to dominate the group completely before going into the knock-out rounds.”
The knockout Round of the UEFA Champions League isn’t until February, and Walcott says it’s nice to put domestic matters at the forefront of his mind.
“It’s nice to be able to concentrate just on domestic matters, especially as we have so many injuries at the moment.
"I think we would have a pretty good ‘injured XI’ just now!"
This interview first appeared in the Official Matchday Programme. You can subscribe to the Matchday Programme by calling 08700 20 20 20.
[Tuesday, December 01, 2009]
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