A game in which Ian Wright put the North Londoners 1-0 up with a header in a match which saw the song One-Nil-To-The-Arsenal born – after travelling fans started singing it during the half-time break as the PA played Go West by the Pet Shop Boys.
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Giroud seems likely to spearhead the attack in Paris but Wenger, who has presided over all of Arsenal’s Champions League campaigns, was guarded about his lineup.
After coming from behind to beat Southampton 2-1 in the Premier League with a last-gasp penalty from Santi Cazorla on Saturday, the striker thinks similar spirit will be required against the French champions.
“I have not decided that”, he told a news conference on Monday. I have 24 hours.
Laurent Koscielny had acrobatically cancelled out an own goal conceded by Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech in attempting to save a Dusan Tadic free-kick. “It’s a city I love, it’s my country, it’s a country I love”, said Wenger.
Arsenal will look for more momentum than past year when they lost their opening two games before scrambling out of their group.
“For us this is an important match, but there is no symbolic desire to win”.
He said: “It was pretty unusual and there were players on our side who were also looking a bit confused”.
“Last year, we were second in the group because Bayern [Munich] were in front of us. Bayern were more consistent”.
For the last 16 years in succession they have reached the second stage of the competition, only to suffer the frustration of defeat in the first knockout round for six seasons in a row.
‘Why didn’t I say yes (to PSG)?
“When you lose the first home game (as Arsenal did against Liverpool at home) you can not afford not to win the second”. We’re used to playing with that intensity in the Champions League. Better than all my speeches is the way we play.
Even Arsene Wenger admitted Arsenal had been lucky to deny his friend Claude Puel what would have been his best result in the Premier League.
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The Gunners are set to play in the Parc de Princes for the first time since a memorable 1-1 draw in first leg of the European Cup Winners Cup semi final in 1994 on their way to a never-to-be-forgotten triumph in that year’s competition.
