Arsenal look to seal their 17th consecutive spot in Champions league
Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky (centre) joke with Arsenal's Calum Chambers (left) and Olivier Giroud (right) during their training session at their London facility in Hertfordshire, north of London, on Monday. Arsenal take on Besiktas on Tuesday in
Paris: After a positive start to the new season domestically, Arsenal head to Istanbul in optimistic mood ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League play-off first leg against Besiktas.
The Gunners followed up a convincing victory against Manchester City in the Community Shield with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace in their opening Premier League game, in which Aaron Ramsey netted a late winner.
Now they are looking to secure a place in the lucrative group stage of Europe’s elite club competition for a 17th consecutive campaign, although Wenger could do without the fitness concerns that are hanging over several players, including Kieran Gibbs, Laurent Koscielny and Jack Wilshere.
“We want to be in the Champions League group stage. Besiktas had a convincing result against Feyenoord (winning 5-2 on aggregate in the third qualifying round), and so for us we have the luck to play the first game away,” said Wenger, who has floated the idea of calling on German World Cup-winning trio Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski for the first time this season.
Arsenal would settle for a repeat of 12 months ago, when they beat another Istanbul side, Fenerbahce, 3-0 on the Asian side of the Bosphorus on the way to a 5-0 aggregate triumph. With Besiktas in the process of rebuilding their stadium across the river, Tuesday’s match will be played at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, where Liverpool beat AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final.
( Source : AFP )
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