‘They must take advantage in London and decide the tie at home’

Udinese president Giampaolo Pozzo believes his side have a 50/50 chance of beating Arsenal to qualify to the group stages of the Champions League, and has warned The Gunners that they must make use of the first-leg at the Emirates, or face the consequences.

Arsenal will host Udinese in the first-leg on the 16th of August, before a difficult trip to the Stadio Friuli in the second 8 days later, and Pozzo reckons that Wenger’s side must take advantage in north London or risk an unthinkable knockout.

Pozzo was quoted on talkSPORT.com saying:

‘We always want to play in the Champions League to be among the best and to live in that environment.’

‘Now with the draw we’ll feel that because Arsenal are one of the great clubs in Europe. But the most positive thing about the draw is playing the second game in Friuli.’

‘The tie is 50-50 right now. The English side play wide open without many defensive tactics. They must take advantage in London and decide the tie at home.’

This match will be a tough one to call, as both sides are very similar in style. Both teams like to hit their opponents on the counter and rely heavily on their wingers and full-backs to bomb forward.

However, I believe we have the quality and experience to brush aside Udinese to progress to the Champions League group stages – our speed, technique and fast tempo football should see us through this one.

But, I do agree with Pozzo. We must take advantage at the Emirates and ultimately decide the tie there and then if we can – we simply can’t leave anything to chance in Italy, not against a side of Udinese’s quality.

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