Juventus: A make or break match

A preview of Arsenal’s Champions League quarter final, from one confident Gooner



Juventus: A make or break match

PV4: Welcome back, but don’t make yourself at home


As you all know, the mighty Gunners have drawn Juventus in the Champions League quarter-final. But do we have the slightest chance of going through? On paper, it should be a one-sided game with the Serie A leaders winning against the 'struggling' Gunners but Arsenal's performance in the Europe this season has been sensational, so the game could go either way.

Arsenal will have a very good chance of going through. If we play the football like we have done in Europe this season then there could be a major upset in Turin on the 5th of April in the Stadio Delle Alpi. If Arsenal carry on our superb performances in Europe then we could go all the way. This is Arsenal's European record this season: Played 8, Won 6, Drawn 2 and Lost 0 - the highlight obviously winning in the Bernabeu against the so-called 'Galacticos'. But as everyone knows, we have under-achieved in the Champions League in recent years and we more than anyone will know this has to be our best chance in a long, long time. With Bayern Munich, Chelski and Ush*ted out, also the fact that two of the three 'major' teams (Barcelona, AC Milan or Lyon) will be out in the semi-finals, Arsene and his squad have really got to go for it!

So who are we playing exactly? Juventus. A club with many trophies, including 28 Serie A titles, two Champions League titles, one UEFA Cup, nine Italian Cups and two Super Cups. But it's not just trophies Juve are known for. They are also known for their many, many great players, not only in past seasons but in their current squad too. Here are just some of their current stars we'll have to face and conquer: Buffon, Ibrahimovic, Del Piero, Nedved, Trezeguet and of course the Arsenal legend Paddy V. This season has been an average season for Juve (many people would say that this is their best season since the millennium but they have won Serie A three times in four years so yeah, pretty average). They are 10 points clear of AC Milan and 12 ahead of Inter at the top of Serie A with only nine games to play. They have the second top goal scorer of Serie A, David Trezeguet who has got 18 goals this season, five behind Fiorentina's Luca Toni, but two in front of Milan's Andrei Shevchenko. They have one of the greatest strike forces in the modern world of football - Del Piero, Juve's top goal scorer of all-time and the aforementioned Trezeguet, the partner of TH14 for France. These tricky two will be a handful for Kolo and Senderos (or Sol). But if Toure can do what he did to Ronaldo and wipe the floor with him, then I say to Juve, "Good luck getting a shot in!". We will have a tough game but I for one, like many Gooners, think we can pull it off! If the magic of TH14 and the 'European players' (The ones who in the Premiership get kicked off the park and can't play their beautiful breathtaking football, but in Europe they have time and aren't afraid of getting taken out by people like Faye, Sissoko, Xabi Alonso etc) like Cesc, Hleb, Reyes do what they did in Madrid then we will have a very good chance.

If we do get past Juve and go through to the semi-finals, I think that we will make it through to the Final in Paris come May. Inter or Villarreal won't be the toughest of games. I'm not saying it will be easy but if I could choose two teams to get in the next round, it would be them. The only threat that Inter have got is Adriano, maybe Cambiasso too if he has a good night but just stick Toure on Adriano and Gilberto on Cambiasso and likely we won't concede. Villarreal on the other hand are a completely different team. They have got the Riquelme who I highly rate but that's it! The only one that could be a 'problem' is the other Argentinean Juan Pablo Sorin. I watch live Spanish football every Sunday night and whenever Villarreal are on, I see Sorin and he must be the dirtiest player in La Liga. Every time he goes in for a tackle, he leaves his opponent on the floor having to get subbed and carried off on a stretcher.

The problem is that I can see people like Reyes, Hleb, Pires, Bergkamp and all the not so physical players in the Arsenal team having a problem against him, but I'm sure Arsene will know this and get Super Jens to have a word to before the game and let Sorin know who's the boss! A good thing if we get Villarreal is that our defenders will have to 'cope' against the one, the only, Mr Diego Forlan. He'll be entertaining for the Arsenal faithful. I do not know how they got this far with him but you gotta give them credit for getting further than Chelski, 'somehow champions of Europe' Liverpool and knocking out Ush*ted with that ponce upfront. He must be Jesus because that was some kind of miracle... or maybe it was that they got the Mancs and those mad Scots to get through.

The Final - a huge possibility. Venue - Stade de France, Paris. Date - 17th May. Capacity - 77,500. Teams playing - Unkown. Will Arsenal be there? Most people think no. But I like some of the Arsenal faithful think yes. If we do then it will be the biggest game in Arsenal history but if we don't then it will be the biggest disappointment in Arsenal history. Just getting a ticket would be total ecstasy. Just imagine it. Imagine all the days you could take the p*ss out of all the Chelski, Mancs and Spurs fans you know. "Champions League you're avin' a laugh!" - every shirt you see on the street just shout that at them. It would be heaven. All the money that Russian c*nt has spent, how much that Russian retard - looking tw*t who ruined English football, all the sarcastic things Jose Moaninho has said to take the p*ss out of every team he has faced, getting to the final would shut the f*ck out of all of them. Whatever happens - final or no final, finalists or quarter-finalists, winners or losers. I will be proud of the young, inspiring and breath-taking Arsenal side that has made my Tuesday and Wednesday nights unforgettable. But we all must concentrate on the Juve game and how we can win at Highbury but especially get a result in Turin at the Stadio Delle Alpi. Come on you Reds!


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