Troy Deeney names two clubs that will deny Arsenal the Champions League | Football
Troy Deeney has praised Arsenal’s ability to ‘grind teams down’ and ‘get over the line’ but says they are unlikely to overcome two rivals in the Champions League.
Mikel Arteta’s side booked their place in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 aggregate win over Bayer Leverkusen in the round-of-16.
Arsenal topped the Champions League group stage but needed a late Kai Havertz penalty to avoid defeat in last week’s first leg against Leverkusen.
The Gunners had home advantage in the second leg, however, and sealed a 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium thanks to goals from Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice.
Deeney insists Arsenal are ‘answering every question’ both domestically and in Europe but doubts they will go on to win their first Champions League title.
The former Premier League striker even thought Bayer Leverkusen were ‘better’ than Arsenal for large periods and says he would back both PSG and Bayern Munich to eliminate the Gunners in Europe.
Champions League holders PSG thrashed Arsenal’s London rivals Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate in the last-16 while Bayern have an insurmountable 6-1 lead over Atalanta ahead of their second leg on Wednesday night.
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‘It’s interesting because I was watching the Arsenal game and thinking what you can say about them,’ Deeney said on CBS Sports.
‘They’re winning football games, 100%, but they gave Leverkusen a lot of chances in terms of breaking through the lines and getting out wide.
‘Leverkusen kept stopping and trying to rebuild but Sporting [who Arsenal face in the quarter-finals] won’t do that, they will be direct and get crosses in.
‘But Arsenal love that, the two centre-backs love crosses into the box so I can’t really put my finger on who it suits.
‘If you ask me right here, right now, do I think Arsenal win the Champions League? I would say no.
‘The feeling I get with them is there is more for you to give for me, but then again they keep winning games and answering every question.
‘I think they can do more and can be fantastic but do I think they beat PSG? No. Do I think in a two-legged game they beat Bayern Munich? No. I know they beat them in the group stage but over two legs?
‘The point I’m making is when you watch Arsenal they don’t give you a sense they’re going to win the Champions League but you do expect them to get the job down so it’s a weird feeling.
‘The only criticism I have of Arsenal at the moment is the performances. They won the game, they were great, but it took a massive save from David Raya to keep a clean sheet and they still gave up moments.
‘I thought in terms of the performance Bayer Leverkusen were better, they played the better stuff.
‘But Arsenal just keep grinding you down and know they won’t make mistakes. They didn’t have that in the backend of Arsene Wenger but they have that now.
‘They have this horrible, steely nastiness to get over the line under Mikel Arteta.’
Arsenal looked set to face Bodo-Glimt in the quarter-finals after the Norwegian side beat Portuguese champions Sporting 3-0 in the first leg.
But Sporting produced an incredible comeback to win the last-16 tie 5-3 on aggregate and set up an intriguing clash with Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Arteta’s side still have outside hopes of a historic quadruple and can win their first trophy of the season on Sunday when they face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final.
Man City head to Wembley having slipped nine points behind Arsenal in the title race and been knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.
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Troy Deeney names two clubs that will deny Arsenal the Champions League | Football
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