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Gunners must fire in Milan
03/03/2008 15:39 - (SA)
Paris - Arsenal and Manchester United, separated by just a point in the Premiership title race, return to European battle on Tuesday with the Gunners needing to fire in Milan if they are to reach the quarter-finals.
While United have the comfort blanket of an away goal in Lyon to give them as good as a goal start at Old Trafford, Arsene Wenger's men have no such room for manoeuvre as they head to the San Siro to face holders AC Milan.
A goalless draw at the Emirates had the benefit of ensuring the Italians did not return home with a priceless away goal in their pockets and two Champions League wins in nine attempts on their travels is not a statistic that makes happy reading in North London.
In addition, no English side has defeated Milan at the San Siro.
Both sides will be missing key personnel with Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti admitting he is concerned having had to do without centre-back Alessandro Nesta as well as midfielders Andrea Pirlo and Kaka for the weekend draw with Lazio - though the latter pair are set to return on Tuesday.
Ruptured knee tendon
During that encounter experienced Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf had to go off with a leg injury while Brazil striker Ronaldo is out for the season with a ruptured knee tendon.
Arsenal, whose title charge suffered a blip with Sunday's home draw with Aston Villa, have lost Croatian forward Eduardo after his horrific injury suffered against Birmingham and will be doubly hoping that Dutch flyer Robin Van Persie, out since January, can make it.
"He might be in the squad but certainly won't start. We will assess him on Monday morning," was all Wenger would say on the subject, preferring to dwell on the need to be able to switch from the high velocity of their English game to the cat-and-mouse style of Europe.
"We will have to adapt to that because we like to play always at a high pace," said Wenger, who will hope that Emmanuel Adebayor, scorer in ten straight domestic matches, chooses Tuesday to break his European duck.
Ancelotti just hopes he can patch up his injury-hit men.
"The match with Arsenal is definitely causing me worries because we're not coming into it in optimal condition," Ancelotti acknowledged, urging his players to summon up "character, courage and desire to get to the next round."
"We're tired but at this time of the year all the teams are."
Fatigue is hardly a problem for United, meanwhile, as it was virtually Sir Alex Ferguson's reserve side which strolled past Fulham on Saturday, where Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney were spectators while Michael Carrick, Nemanja Vidic and Ryan Giggs were also rested.
Lyon, who must attack to cancel out the Carlos Tevez's first-leg strike, can at least do so in the knowledge that central defender Cris will be back in harness having come through Saturday's win for the French table-toppers in the 1-0 win over Lille after six months on the sidelines.
Jean-Alain Boumsong, who generally shackled Rooney well in the first leg, was left out for the Lille match and faces competition from Sebastien Squillaci to partner Cris while fellow defender Anthony Reveillere is suspended.
Other matches
Tuesday's other two matches are similarly poised, although Barcelona will expect to progress having come away from Glasgow with a 3-2 win over Celtic, who can welcome back midfielder Scott Brown following suspension.
With Real Madrid fighting to get back on terms Wednesday in their tie with Roma, Seville will try to keep alive a Spanish dream of three sides in the last eight by overturning a 3-2 deficit against Turkey's Fenerbache.
Seville warmed up by squandering the lead to suffer their 12th La liga loss of the campaign, 2-1 at Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday, a reverse which did nothing to suggest they will return to the Champions League fray next season.
- AFP
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