‘Bring on the Spanish big boys’ – These are the words of stand-in skipper Robin Van Persie after Arsenal booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a 3-1 home win over minnows Partizan Belgrade last night. However, is the striker being a little overconfident? Or just in the right frame of mind?
Goals from Van Persie, Theo Walcott and man of the moment Samir Nasri assured Arsenal’s entry into the knockout stages of Europe’s biggest prize, but maybe not the way they would have wanted. The Gunners finished second in their group behind Shakhtar Donetsk, and as a result can be drawn with competition favourites Barcelona.
Many, if not all Arsenal fans will be hoping to avoid Messi and co in the next round, and will be looking for a draw with either Schalke, Bayern Munich, even Barca’s rivals Real Madrid. Although, Robin Van Persie remains optimistic whatever the outcome, and has stated that he would love a crack at Guardiola’s men or a meeting with the Galacticos. The 27-year-old told the Daily Mirror:
‘As a football fan, I would love to be involved in a game against Real Madrid or Barcelona but we will have to see what the draw will bring.’
The striker finished off by saying:
‘We have to believe we can win it now. Everything starts with belief. If we don’t believe, we should stop playing football.’
You can understand the Dutchman’s fight and belief in his team, it’s very admirable to say the least. On their day Arsenal can beat any team in the world, but we have to take it one step at a time. Van Persie’s words are great to hear as a fan, as it gives us (the fans) belief that our team may have a chance in the competition even if we happen to draw Barcelona. However, some Arsenal fans may view the striker’s words a little cocky and perceive him as being overconfident at such an early stage. Yes we’re through to the last 16, but I wouldn’t call it anything special, especially with the group we had. We should have topped it like every other English team did.
As I said to my family, friends and twitter followers, I don’t care who we draw, even Barcelona. The fact is we have to beat the best to be the best…besides Arsenal always love to achieve everything the hard way right? I just hope Wenger and his men have the same mentality as Robin Van Persie, because from here on in every game will be tough.
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Its nice to see that RVP doesn’t care who we get in the champions league as it shows no fear, but I think deep down he would like to avoid barca as they are on another world football wise.