Chris Hatherall
“IT’S BEEN been a great week for North London's finest - and Arsenal did all right as well.”
That was Gary Lineker’s verdict on an astonishing two days of Champions League football and although he should probably have saved the quip for a Match of the Day link this weekend, he is certainly the man who should know.
Lineker, England’s second-top goalscorer, played for both Tottenham and Barcelona and is better placed than most to analyse the last-16 matches that have gripped the whole of Europe this week.
Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Barca was somewhat unexpected, of course, but so too was Tottenham’s 1-0 triumph in Milan, a result that puts them in an even better position than Arsene Wenger’s side with a home tie still to come. So for all the hype at the Emirates, should it be Tottenham who celebrate harder?
"Arsenal have given themselves a chance, which is what they had to do, by winning at home," said Lineker. "But Spurs have pretty much got one foot in the quarter-finals. For Spurs to go to the San Siro and win was an extraordinary effort and for Arsenal to beat, for me, the best side in club football the world has possibly ever seen,is also a marvellous achievement. They've both exceeded expectations.
"It's been superb for English football but let’s not forget they've got to finish the job off. You can't imagine for one minute that Spurs won't, unless they capitulate or get over-confident. But Arsenal still have a lot to do. It's going to be a really difficult game for them out there."
Perhaps it’s bias, perhaps it’s just common sense but Lineker, in London Thursday to launch the Champions League Final ticket sale process - gives Tottenham a stronger chance of contiuing their dream run.
"Arsenal are gradually improving. You can see they are much better this year than they were last year in the game against Barcelona, and competed better. But you still look at them and you can see weakness in the centre of their defence, which might get exploited out in the Nou Camp," he said.
"We’ll see. It’s a London final, at Wembley, and it’d be quite something to have a London club in it. It’s Tottenham’s first season in the Champions League, it’s one hell of an ask for them to go all the way, that would be quite an achievement. But this tournament has thrown up the odd surprise winner, as we even saw last year because no-one picked Inter at the start of it. So, you never know. It’s brilliant that they’ve come t his far and I would think that they’re going to at least get to the quarter-finals, which is a great start."
Ironically, the biggest threat to both Tottenham and Arsenal's hopes, should they reach the last eight, could come from far nearer to home than Italy or Spain.
Lineker said: "You'd expect Manchester United to go through and Chelsea will be strong favourites to win their game against Copenhagen too. They’ve not been at their best so far this season, certainly in the latter stages of the season; but they’ve got so many good players they can turn it round and probably remain London’s best bet for the finalists even after this week’s results. I’d expect the Premier League to have at least three teams in the quarter-finals so let’s hope of them makes it to the end.
"I'be be happy with Tottenham v Barcelona in the Final, my two old clubs. I'd have to support Spurs, of course; I'm an Englishman after all - they know where I live."
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/XvEo3eeJW8s/post.aspx
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