Arsenal No Champions League Match For Real Madrid Or Bayern Munich, Says Glenn Hoddle

Source: thewillnigeria.com

Neither Arsenal nor Monaco are realistic candidates to win the Champions League – they simply don't possess the quality to win.

Arsenal's side are much the same as Arsenal have been in recent years. Against the lesser sides they look fantastic – and you may see that side of them against Monaco – but I think when it comes to the big games against the big sides they can get rolled over.

I was at the Etihad the day they beat Manchester City. Was it a one-off?

Arsene Wenger's side play a very adventurous game; they try to win it from the first minute to the last. I think they've got a Plan A, a Plan A and a Plan A – but showed nothing else until the win at City. That day they finally showed they had a Plan B.

For them to progress in the Champions League against a Real Madrid or a Bayern Munich they would have to have plenty of games like they did against City – where they don't dominate the ball but end up on the winning side.

Wenger will be disappointed if he ends his time at Arsenal without a Champions League title. You can talk all you want about moving from Highbury to the Emirates but the Gunners are one of the biggest football clubs in the world today.

For a side of their stature only one Champions League final is not enough, and only one trophy in nine years is not enough – Wenger will know that.

Berbatov threat
Arsenal will come up against Monaco striker Dimitar Berbatov on Wednesday night.

He has plenty of admirers as far as his ability is concerned but you would be hard pushed to find a fan of his work rate.

You can't, however, take away the fact that he's got the kind of talent very few players today possess. He could get some joy against Arsenal's defence.

Will he be coming to London with a point to prove? After playing for Tottenham, Manchester United and Fulham in the Premier League, I think that Monaco is a nice fit for him – the crowd won't get after him when he's not running around.

When you get to this level of the competition, anyone can beat anyone else if it's their night.

You don't get this far without being a very good team, and while toughest tests are on the horizon, I think Wenger's side will have enough over the two games to reach the quarter-finals.

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