Gunners banking on Euro progress as they face in-form Besiktas

Jim van Wijk 06:35 19/08/2014
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  • Arsenal's main man: The Besiktas manager knows his team must stop Ramsey is they have any chance of progressing.

    Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will let others be the judge of what it means should his side qualify again for the lucrative group stages of the Champions League – but knows all too well the cost of failing to beat Besiktas.

    The Gunners flew into Istanbul last night with confidence boosted following a dramatic late 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on the first day of the new Premier League season, which came a week after defending champions Manchester City had been defeated 3-0 in the Commu­nity Shield.

    Wenger is ready to put his proud record of 16 consecutive seasons playing in Europe’s elite competi­tion up against any other success, with qualification set to bring with it some £7million (Dh43m) in prize money, with each subsequent group home match worth around £3m (Dh18.4m) of additional match-day revenue.

    “It’s difficult because in England the competition is always hard.

    “There are six or seven clubs who can get into the top four,” said Wenger, whose nine-season trophy drought was finally ended with FA Cup glory at Wembley in May.

    “We finished fourth with 79 points last year, but in the past have won the championship with 78.

    “That shows you that the number of teams who can achieve big, big quality in England has increased. There are six or seven teams who can fight for the championship this year.”

    Wenger added: “You let people judge what you do. All I can do is do my best every day and accept the verdict. I’m in a public job, so I accept it.”

    Arsenal brought in Chile forward Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona this summer, following on from the club-record signing of Mesut Ozil.

    Wenger maintains qualifying again for the group stages is about more than just being able to sign top players.

    “It doesn’t affect too much my transfer policy. Finan­cially it’s a big game, but that’s not the most important thing,” he said.

    “We want to compete at the top level and want to fight with the best in Europe.

    “That’s the point of this compe­tition for us, not the financial con­sequences. We have always in the history at the club adapted to our finances. What’s very important is that you want to play against the best.

    Wenger knows it will be no easy ride against Slaven Bilic’s outfit, who defeated Feyenoord 5-2 on aggregate in the third-round with former Chelsea striker Demba Ba netting a hat-trick in the second leg.

    “It is a big test,” he said. “We had a short preparation, and we know that in one week we have three big games. Besiktas home and away, and Everton in between.”

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