Arsenal face herculean task

Football Champions League

Arsene Wenger admitted that he faces a tough job lifting his Arsenal players for this week's trip to Barcelona following his side's FA Cup elimination at the hands of Watford.

Saturday's 2-1 home loss to Quique Sanchez Flores's side in the quarterfinals ended Arsenal's two-year hold on the competition and they will now focus on attempting to overturn a 2-0 deficit when they visit Camp Nou for Wednesday's Champions League last 16 second-leg match.

The odds suggest Arsenal will return from Barcelona having exited another competition, adding to the pressure building ahead of this weekend's Premier League visit to Everton, when they will attempt to maintain their slender title hopes.

The loss to Watford has done nothing to strengthen belief and Wenger said: "It's always difficult after a defeat, but it is our job to prepare for the next game.

He added: "We have shown we can respond always. I think this team has a great spirit, a very strong attitude.

"They play at the moment with the idea we cannot afford any result, you know.
"We won't rest players. We want to make the impossible possible and we know we play against a very strong, strong side and it's important we go there and focus and show a very good response."

Juve test for Bayern

Juventus will look to end "formidable" Bayern Munich's bid for Champions League glory by taking the game to the Bundesliga giants from the off, says midfielder Claudio Marchisio.
Bayern host the Italian champions at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday looking to seal their fifth consecutive quarterfinal appearance in Europe's premier club competition.

Despite a decimated central defence three weeks ago in Turin, Bayern handed Juve a footballing masterclass, taking a 2-0 lead by the 55th minute before the Italian side regrouped to draw 2-2 and leave Juve, defeated 3-1 in last year's final by Barcelona, with the belief that all is not yet lost.

Juve are now unbeaten in 19 consecutive games and Gianluigi Buffon has not conceded for 10 games -- a run that has left him just four minutes shy of overcoming Sebastian Rossi's decades-old unbeaten record of 929 minutes in Serie A.

"Bayern are a formidable team, but so are we. Just look at how much we've progressed in recent years," Marchisio told www.juventus.com.

While Juve warmed up for Wednesday's decider with a 1-0 win over Sassuolo on Friday, a free-scoring Bayern put five unanswered goals past Werder Bremen on Saturday.

AFP