After drawing Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Edu feels the clash against the German giants will be a “beautiful” matchup between two top teams.
We were paired against the Bavarian outfit following the draw in Switzerland, who are a familiar foe that we have tackled 14 times in the competition’s history, and boast huge pedigree having lifted the trophy on six occasions.
But our Sporting Director feels that our recent form which has seen us win our last eight league games to top the Premier League, and advance into the last eight in Europe after edging past Porto on penalties, means that we are full of confidence heading into a titanic two-legged affair.
Moments after the draw, he said: “It’s a beautiful game to play. We are going to be playing against a team that are very experienced in the competition and the players that they have are amazing, but we have good momentum. We are really excited to face them and see if we can go through.
“The way the players and the team are performing is very exciting. We are playing at our best at the moment, so let’s carry on playing the way we are playing and see how far we can go.
“It’s a privilege to be here. There are a lot of big clubs here so we’ll have to do our very best to carry on in the competition. It’s the quarter-final of the Champions League, there will be a lot of fantastic players on the field and I’m sure it’ll be a great atmosphere in both stadiums. We’ll do our best and try to do everything to get through to the next phase.”
This is our first campaign back amongst European football’s elite in seven seasons, but Edu is thrilled to see big Champions League knockout nights return to Emirates Stadium, with the quarter-final draw already getting Gooners licking their lips in anticipation.
With Real Madrid or Manchester City lying in wait in the semi-final if we can get past Bayern, the big games will only keep coming. Now the road to Wembley is set, Edu was asked if we can go all the way and lift the famous trophy for the first time.
“Why not?” he smiled. “We have to dream because of the way we are playing and performing and the momentum we have at the moment.
“This is the position we have to always be in because of the size of the club and the way we are, and it feels like we’re back where we belong."
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
