Gunners targeting one better
Gunners targeting one better
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Saturday, 29, Jul 2006 09:36
Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein has insisted that Arsenal are targeting one better in this season's Champions League.
The Gunners surprised many by reaching the final of the competition last year but lost to Barcelona 2-1 in Paris after a determined performance in which they played most of the game with ten men.
Now with Arsenal being drawn against either Croatia's Dynamo Zagreb or Lithuania's Ekranas in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, Dein insists the Gunners want to go one further and lift the trophy.
"We went further than anyone expected last season but the objective is to win it and we will be trying very hard to do that this season," Dein told Arsenal's website.
"After last season's great performance of getting into the Champions League final the objective is to go one better this season and win it."
Arsenal are likely to face the Croatian side after they won the first leg of the second qualifying round 4-1.
This is the first time under manager Arsene Wenger that the club has had to go through the qualifying stages and Dein admits there is some concern about the fact that those players who featured in the World Cup will have to play an important game so soon.
"Some players who played in the latter stages of the World Cup will only just be coming back to pre-season training, that is something Arsene Wenger will have to deal with in due course," Dein added.
"We have never been in the qualifying rounds under Arsene, we have always gone into the group stages so it is important for us to get through these games to get in there again."
Arsenal will play the first leg away on August 8th or 9th before playing their first European game at their new Emirates Stadium on August 22nd or 23rd.