Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes that Barcelona have gotten worse in the recent past and that the Catalan side is now less of a formidable opponent as it was a few years back.
The Gunners were eliminated from the Champions League after Arsene Wenger’s boys slumped to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona at Camp Nou on Wednesday. With an emphatic 5-1 win in aggregate over Arsenal, Luis Enrique’s side is set to face Atletico Madrid at the quarter-final stage of the coveted European tournament.
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In a recent interview, Arsene Wenger told the press, “These teams (like Barcelona and Bayern Munich) are not uncatchable, and the regret I have about the two games against Barcelona maybe they were more beatable than ever before. They are not so much out of reach.”
When asked about how the English teams can regain their glory days in the European competitions, the Frenchman replied, “By getting the players here. Football belongs first to the quality of the players. I believe that with more income in England the best players will slowly all come to England and that will be the answer.”
“They (teams from other countries) have already dropped off. For years in England we were always in the last (stages), sometimes you played an English team in the quarter-final and the semi-final of the Champions League. I believe we'll come back again,” he added.
Arsenal is currently placed at the third position in the Barclays Premier League table, eleven points behind the league leaders Leicester City, having played a match less. And their exit from the Champions League on Wednesday has left just two English teams remaining in the European competitions.
Manchester City is set to face PSG in the Champions League quarter-final stage after the former knocked out the Ukrainian side, Dynamo Kyiv from the competition thanks to an aggregate of 3-1.
On the other hand, Jurgen Klopp to set to return to his beloved Westfalenstadion- but as a Liverpool manager- as the Merseyside club has been pitted against Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-final stage of the Europa League. The Anfield boys knocked out their arch rivals Manchester United from the second-tiered European competition with a 3-1 aggregate as well.
