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ARSENAL - BARCELONA

"Are Barça the best in history? I'll answer that on Tuesday"

The Arsenal coach analyzed his side's meeting with Barça in London, a side that he has beaten only once in nine attempts in his career.

Update:
Arséne Wenger during training.
Tony O'BrienREUTERS

Arsenal coach Arséne Wenger weighed into the debate over whether the current Barcelona side is the best the world has seen ahead of the two teams’ meeting in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday night: “I saw the Real Madrid team of Kopa, Di Stéfano, Gento and Puskas. It’s difficult to compare that side with this Barcelona. Is this the best team in history? I’ll answer that on Tuesday,” the Frenchman said.

Wenger, who is in his 20th season at Arsenal, has never beaten Barcelona in a knock-out tie during his managerial career. In total he has faced the azulgrana on nine occasions with Arsenal and Monaco, winning one game and losing six, with two drawn. “Apart from the individual talent they possess, Messi, Suárez and Neymar have a great relationship. When you see someone like Messi, who could have scored his 300th goal, pass the ball to Suárez that shows there is something there. It seems that they play football for fun, without any kind of pressure, because they know that for them it is easy.”

Wenger attributes the jovial atmosphere at Barcelona to the addition of the Uruguay forward. “They have an amazing sense of camaraderie and I think it is Suárez who brought that to the side. He did so at Liverpool and he does the same with Uruguay. Suárez is one of those players who creates team spirit.”

Arsenal attempted to sign Suárez from Liverpool in 2013 and Wenger recognizes the importance of watching him closely at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night. “We have to stop him from playing. We have to analyze what we need to do and then do it well. All of their players are difficult to stop individually, so we have to find a way to stop them collectively,” the Arsenal boss said.