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Koscielny - Lack of pressure will help

Laurent Koscielny says Arsenal will benefit from a lack of pressure when they travel to Barcelona.

Arsène Wenger’s side go into Wednesday’s match at the Nou Camp facing an uphill battle to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, after losing 2-0 in the first leg.

Koscielny recognises that Barcelona are heavy favourites to progress, but says the Gunners could cause a surprise if they can recapture their early-season form.

"We need to play with freedom and believe in our quality because we did well during the first six months of this season"

“We don’t have pressure like in the first game, because we play against the best team in the world,” the defender told Arsenal Player.

“Now we need to play the second leg away at Barca and we have nothing to lose. People always talk about the statistics and I think we have maybe a five per cent chance to qualify.

“You know when you play against the best players in the world, the best team with a good collective side, it’s very important for us. It can be very important if we can have a [good] result.

“They have a lot of quality, they can have a lot of possession during the game and when they accelerate with their top players, they create chances.

“We need to play with freedom and believe in our quality because we did well during the first six months of this season. I don’t see why we can’t [play like that] against Barcelona and for the rest of the season.

“You know we are in a difficult period and we need to stay like a unit to be stronger. We will fight until the end of the season.”

 

Laurent Koscielny

Laurent Koscielny