Tuesday, 7 April, Kick-off 20:45 CET El Madrigal, Villarreal
This Season In The Champions League
Arsenal are in their fourth Champions League quarter-final in six years, and sixth overall; but they have progressed beyond this round just once. Villarreal are in their second quarter-final. The Spanish side finished second in Group E behind Manchester United in this season's group stage. They drew 0-0 at Old Trafford before beating Celtic 1-0 and AaB 6-3 at home, then drawing 2-2 in Denmark against AaB, holding United to another goalless draw amd finally losing 2-0 to Celtic in Glasgow with qualification assured. In the first knockout round, Villarreal beat Greek side Panathinaikos 3-2 on aggregate, drawing 1-1 at home and winning 2-1 away. They are unbeaten at home in the competition.
Arsenal's campaign began with a 6-0 aggregate victory over FC Twente in the third qualifying round, and they then finished as runners-up to FC Porto in Group G, having drawn 1-1 in Ukraine against Dynamo Kiev, beaten Porto 4-0 at home and Fenerbahce 5-2 away, and drawn 0-0 with the Turks at the Emirates. A 1-0 home win over Dynamo Kiev was followed by a 2-0 defeat away to Porto.
In the first knock-out round, Arsenal defeated Roma 7-6 in a dramatic penalty shoot-out, having beaten the Italian side 1-0 in London and lost by the same score in Rome.
Whoever wins this quarter-final will play either Manchester United or Porto in the semi-final, so either side could find themselves in another contest against their Group winners. Alternatively there could be an all-English or all-Iberian semi-final.
FORM GUIDE
Villarreal
07 Mar (La Liga) v Espanyol (H) WON 1-0
10 Mar (Champions League) v Panathinaikos (A) WON 2-1
15 Mar (La Liga) v Atletico Madrid (A) LOST 2-3
21 Mar (La Liga) v Athletic Bilbao (H) WON 2-0
04 Apr (La Liga) v Almeria (A) LOST 0-3
Arsenal
11 Mar (Champions League) v Roma (A) LOST 0-1 (1-1 agg aet; WON 7-6 on pens)
14 Mar (Premier League) v Blackburn Rovers (H) WON 4-0
17 Mar (FA Cup) v Hull City (H) WON 2-1
21 Mar (Premier League) v Newcastle Utd (A) WON 3-1
04 Apr (Premier League) v Manchester City (H) WON 2-0
TEAM NEWS
Villarreal
Santi Cazorla, previously ever-present in this Champions League campaign, is out for the rest of the season after fracturing and dislocating the fibula in his right leg in a collision with two Almeria players on Saturday. Cani has been out since late March with a thigh strain but Gonzalo Rodriguez was back to face Almeria after being out for two months with a thigh tear. However, Marcos Senna is back in contention.
Guille Franco, Ariel Ibagaza, Marcos Senna and Angel Lopez are all one yellow card away from a ban.
Squad: Diego Lopez, Sebastian Viera, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Diego Godin, Joan Capdevila, Pascal Cygan, Javi Venta, Angel Lopez, Fabricio Fuentes, Sebastian Eguren, Robert Pires, Cani, Ariel Ibagaza, Mati Fernandez, Marcos Senna, Bruno, Guille Franco, Nihat Kahveci, Joseba Llorente, Giuseppe Rossi.
Last Starting XI (v Almeria): Diego Lopez, Javi Venta, Fabricio Fuentes, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Capdevila, Pires, Matilla, Eguren (Cygan), Santi Cazorla, Rossi (Mati Fernandez), Joseba Llorente (Guille Franco).
Arsenal
Wenger hopes to have Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri available after the pair missed the weekend clash with Manchester City. Theo Walcott picked up a knock on his knee in that game and faced a fitness test, but Abou Diaby (thigh) and Eduardo (groin) were not expected to travel. Andrey Arshavin is ineligible, having played for Zenit St Petersburg in this competition earlier in the season, while Tomas Rosicky is still sidelined.
Squad: Almunia, Fabianski, Sagna, Clichy, Toure, Gallas, Walcott, Denilson, Song, Fabregas, Eboue, Ramsey, Nasri, Adebayor, Van Persie, Bendtner, Vela, Silvestre, Gibbs, Djourou.
Last Starting XI (v Man City): Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Fabregas (Ramsey), Song, Denilson, Walcott (Eboue), Adebayor (Bendtner), Arshavin.
PREDICTION
Villarreal have proved highly resilient in Europe at El Madrigal, and despite losing two of their last three Liga gaes will be confident of progressing to the Champions League semi-finals on the strength of their impressive home record. But Arsenal have played themselves into their best form of the season and have also revealed greater defensive resilience in recent months. They will fancy their chances of earning a draw in Spain to take back to London for next week's second leg.
Villarreal 1-1 Arsenal
from:www.goal.com
