Arsène Wenger expects tonight's Champions League
Knockout Round first leg to decide the tie overall.
Milan visit Emirates Stadium this evening for a game that has
observers both salivating and scratching their heads. Most English
bookmakers have pegged the two sides at the same odds to go through
to the Quarter-Finals.
For what it's worth, Wenger feels Milan are slight
favourites. But, as in Arsenal's last five Champions League
knockout ties over two legs*, the Frenchman knows the opening game
is the crucial tie.
"Usually it is decisive," said Wenger. "Not only
mathematically but mentally. I have noticed it always has a great,
great weight on the second leg. Why? Because it can strengthen
belief for one side and weaken the belief on the other. Usually
that is very difficult to reverse."
* Against PSV (2007), Villarreal (06), Juventus (06), Real Madrid
(06) and Bayern Munich (05), the winners of the first leg went
through to the next round.
25/1 Abebayor first goal and Arsenal win 2-0 - Get a FREE Paddy Power bet up to £50
Copyright 2013 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source 20 Feb 2008
