SOCCER CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: LAST 16, SECOND LEG AC Milan (0) v Arsenal (0)ARSENE WENGER has called upon his young Arsenal team to prove they are on course to becoming "a great side" at the San Siro this evening, urging his players to ensure they leave Italy with no regrets.
The Frenchman arrived last night without his influential centre half Kolo Toure, who has failed to recover from the knee injury sustained in the goalless Champions League first leg two weeks ago, but with a bold pledge to attack the holders.
Robin van Persie, absent since the English League Cup semi-final first leg against Tottenham Hotspur on January 9th, when he suffered a recurrence of a thigh problem, will be on the bench, though Wenger hopes Arsenal do not have to call upon the Dutchman to reach the quarter-finals.
Asked whether his side, a point clear at the top of the Premier League but unsuccessful in both domestic cup competitions, had reached a defining moment in their season, Wenger replied: "It is, yes. Above all, you want always to have no regrets. If you look at what people said about our team before the season, we have already overachieved. Now, no matter what we do, it'll never be enough.
"Again, I look across Europe today and, while we are young, who are the teams that have only lost one championship game this season? Inter Milan and us (and Bayern Munich). So, for a young side, we are quite consistent.
"You ask me whether we can overcome this hurdle? I say 'yes'. I'm confident. I'm very proud of what the team have done until now, but I'm sure that I'll be prouder at the end of the season.
"The biggest concern for me is that we go into the game and give everything we have. And that we are relaxed."
Although Arsenal's clearest opportunity came in stoppage time at the end of the first match, Emmanuel Adebayor's header which cannoned from the crossbar, they created enough half-chances to have taken a lead to Italy. Arrigo Sacchi, the former Italy and Milan manager, suggested that Arsenal's obsession with playing football was "narcissistic" at the weekend, a product of their low average age.
As it is, this team can approach this game without fear, even if they must buck a trend. Only six teams have managed to qualify for the next stage after drawing 0-0 at home in the first leg, the last being Roma last season when they prevailed 2-0 at Lyon in the return.
Arsenal may have scored five on their only previous visit here - a rout of Inter Milan in 2003 - but they have won only two of their last nine away games in the competition and tonight will confront a side who beat Manchester United and Liverpool last term.
Carlo Ancelotti, who received a vote of confidence from the club's president Silvio Berlusconi yesterday after Milan's disappointing league campaign, last night suggested his team could yet emulate their 3-0 mauling of Alex Ferguson's team last year, though there is confidence fuelling Arsenal's preparations, particularly given Milan's toils at home this season. The European Cup holders have lost three games in Milan this term.
"Many teams have given them problems, particularly at the San Siro," added Wenger. "We are conscious, though, that they will raise their level for this game. That's the quality of this team. They cannot compete, maybe, for the championship, and they're struggling to finish in fourth place with Fiorentina winning at Juventus the other night. So it is a team who can concentrate on this competition and, on the day, raise their level.
"Until January, people considered us the surprise of the season. Since January, people are taking us seriously as candidates for the Premiership, but the team has matured quickly because they have had to cope with that pressure. I believe this team will produce no matter what happens in Milan."
Ancelotti enters the game with a squad with a clean bill of health.
Kaka, Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Pirlo had all been doubtful after missing several Serie A games recently, but they all returned to training yesterday.
"They are all in a good condition to play and have worked excellently this week in training to ensure they would be ready for this game," he said.
Ancelotti's only doubt regards Clarence Seedorf, who limped out of Saturday night's 1-1 draw with Lazio and was unable to train with his team-mates yesterday.
The Dutchman would nevertheless have to make do with a place on the bench since there would be no room in the Rossoneri for two attacking midfielders.
With Kaka available for the first time since damaging his knee against Palermo on February 24th - the last time Milan won - Ancelotti would prefer to play him behind strikers Pato and Filippo Inzaghi.
