Champions League : Roma vs Arsenal, Second Leg. 11/03/09

[Raider]

We came, we saw and Thierry Henry conquered on a night of high drama here in Rome.

The French striker scored Arsenal's first ever hat-trick in the Champions League as we roared back to claim a superb victory in the Phase Two opener at the Stadio Olimpico back in 2003.

This time around we will be heading over there with a slightly more cuation take on things as we've only got the one goal.

It doesnt mean we will play defensive or just hold out for the draw, but we will take more caution, and play with a more heightened sense of awareness, as there is a Quater final position up for stake.

I'd give us a fighting chance naturaly, although Roma will be like a diffrent team at home, and I'd forsee a hard fought 0-0 out there.

 

[Jose_Reyes_2005]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

I would have taken a 1-0 lead in a heartbeat going into any cl knockout away tie, and i imagine so would wenger, but i fear the manner in which we won at the emirates could really play into Roma's hands. They will feel like they really got out of jail in the first leg, and psychologically that could give them a massive boost that could just be decisive. They were at their weakest and most vulnerable and time after time we failed to capitalize, and imo that factor from Roma's perspective overshadows the actual decent result we got and will mean that this game will be much, much more difficult that it should have been.

On their day, Roma can be a lethal attacking force, and i imagine we'll have to endure long periods of pressure because they're far from shy of throwing men forward. Cicinho, Vucinic, Aquilani and Juan will all be back for them while a few other guys like Totti and Mexes should shake off the knocks they played with in the first leg. The good news is that the better side rarely ever wins in knockout ties. Any slice of luck or random piece of magic can seal a tie and so really it could just go either way. I just really, really hope Theo makes it for this game because nobody would thrive on a counter attacking game that this should be more than him, so let's hope he makes it because imo the potential space that he could exploit from both cicinho and riise's flanks is just mouthwatering, and his mere presence would limit roma's attacking play significantly.

 

[nazo]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

The only thing i'm worried about for this leg is that the team might go into complete cautious mode and play less football. I want them to be calm and slightly cautious but not give up attacking all together. I hope the Arsenal that beat AC Milan shows up, rather than the Arsenal that showed up against Villareal a few years ago.

They're going to have a few good players back but the loss of De Rossi is massive for them. Remember also that this season they beat Chelsea at home 3-1 i think eventhough they lost 1-0 at the bridge.

 

[Clrnc]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

I hate 1-0 scoreline, because the team against Villarreal is most likely to appear.

And given our striking options, its not good defending and trying to hit on the break

 

[Anzac]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

I mentioned in the 1st leg thread that AW has said we will look to attack to score in Rome, that the 1-0 scoreline doesn't give us enough in the bank to afford not to.

Is either Eduardo or Bischoff in the CL squad???

 

[Unforgiven]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

Obviously Roma are going to play much differently, most importantly they will not give the ball away as they did yesterday. I just hope for this game we can keep possession and not let Roma pass around us like they did yesterday in the last 15 mins of the game.

I hope the team doesn't sit back and defend for this game. We must not play Song for this game, he is too slow. The game yesterday showed that the more quick Denilson/Diaby can tackle just as well and pass much better in these CL games.

 

[albakos]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

Our complete squad for CL is this.


By then let's hope that Walcott and Ade will be back from injury and we don't get any injury on defense.


I'm very optimistic that we will go through thanks to an early goal from either Nasri or RvP.

 

[CrazyInLoveWithArsenal]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

Walcott back would be a massive boost, Roma will have to attack us and his pace will be a great outlet.

 

[Proof]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

I don't think that AS Roma will play more different in the second leg, they will try to score a goal obviously and defend it in the absolute Italian style, trying to end up at penalties. Also Walcott and Adebayor could be back for this leg.

 

[HollandGooner]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

We could have go there with a comfortable lead 4-0 or something,
But it isnt that way, so I really hope we can hold on to our selfs.
playing on the same way we did yesterday with amazing pace and ball circulation could be more difficult but i think we can do it. and with the players coming back, we could go all the way

 

[number_0]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

We score there and we are through.
Their defence was horrible in the emirates, if eduardo, ade or theo were there to exploit the chances than thats 1 less italian team in the QF.

 

[Gunner4life09]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

What about eduardo, 2 weeks from the Cardiff game is definitely in line with this 2nd leg, if not earlier...

I would much rather see him than Bendtner, even if he starts on the bench with Ade and RVP from the get go.

Although everyone is moaning about how we should have put the tie to bed yesterday, I'm still confident we'll progress through to the quarters.

 

[raidersoftheark]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

Pretty confident we'll go through. Think we'll play for a win but get a draw here.

1-1

 

[hackajack]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

Get the away goal and they need three to win

 

[Gunner4life09]

Re: Champions League : Arsenal v Roma, Second Leg. 11/03/09

glad de rossi's out. i wouldn't it pass our defence letting a goal in but not 3.

 

[RocktheCasbah]

Not too worried about the second leg. As to the amount of chances we passed up last night, it was very similar against Milan last season and we went and put in a top performance at the San Siro. I'd be very disappointed if we didn't go through from here.

 

[JazzG]

Technically speaking it is Roma vs Arsenal not Arsenal vs Roma so thread title emended

Now onto the match I think we have a good chance with De Rossi out but we need Diaby to play along Denilson in the middle. Denilson and Song is simply a disaster and doesn't work at all for us. Keep it tight and think we can hit them on the counter.

 

[USgoonergirl]

Im confident that we can go through, just nervous about how Roma is going to play because they are as inconsistent as we are, and they could look like a completly different team with Juan and Vucinic. We need to play just as good as we did yesterday, but we must score when we get a chance, hopefully Eduardo and Walcott will be back.

 

[USArsenal]

i really see it as a bonus that DeRossi won't be playing.. he is one of the hearts of their team and they will lose a lot of quality with him not there, especially in Rome...

not sure how i see the outcome playing out though.. both teams are Jekyl & Hyde

 

[-vapour-]

On the Champions league squad, why is Simpson on it? I thought he was at West Brom until the end of the season :? odd.

On the tie itself, with only needing a draw we have to be odds on favourites for this tie. Roma looked very average against us at the Emirates, and although they may up their game in Rome I still can't see them causing us many problems. Only worry I have is the motivation to beat them. We always up our game for the tougher games, and now that we have seen that Roma aren't all that tough it may kill us a little. Saying that though, this is the Champions League knock out round, so everyone should be giving their all anyway. I'm going to stick my neck out and predict a 2-1 win to us.