Henry can be a San Siro hero again
AC MILAN vs ARSENAL
THE SAN Siro played host to one of Thierry Henry’s finest performances in an Arsenal shirt and his manager Arsene Wenger is confident the former France striker can roll back the years tonight and propel his side to Champions League glory against AC Milan.
Henry will return to his parent club New York Red Bulls after the last 16 first leg tie following a fruitful loan spell which has seen him contribute three goals, including the decisive strikes against Leeds in the FA Cup and at Sunderland in last Saturday’s 2-1 win.
Wenger conceded the 34-year-old, who scored twice for the Gunners at one of Italian football’s most iconic venues in a 5-1 romp against Inter back in 2003, had far exceeded his expectations over the course of the past six weeks, but admits it would be foolish to rule out Henry penning one glorious final chapter in the story of his fairytale return.
“He can do it again,” said Wenger of Henry. “He will be highly motivated because he started his international career in Italy.
“We didn’t expect him to be so important for us when he signed. His talent on the pitch is still much sharper than I expected after being out in the States.
“I expected him to have more health problems because at the end of the day he left top, top European level football because he was a bit concerned about his knee problems, but he’s in good shape.”
Wenger is himself targeting a San Siro hat-trick of sorts this evening having also masterminded a 2-0 success over the current Serie A leaders at the same stage of the competition four years ago.
Only right-back Bacary Sagna is a survivor of that famous night in the club’s recent European history but Wenger is confident his current and largely unheralded side can follow in some illustrious footsteps.
“If I would think we have no chance to win the game I would stay at home. I don’t like to waste my time,” the Arsenal manager declared.
“We have shown we can win everywhere and I have full confidence in this team that we can do it. We will try to play our game.”