Henry: Champions League Interview

Henry on champions league ambitions

Henry cl interview
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Van Persie out for Six Weeks

Arsenal FC striker Robin van Persie is a major doubt for both legs of the Gunners' UEFA Champions League second round tie against PSV Eindhoven after breaking a metatarsal bone in his right foot.

'Partial fracture'
The Netherlands international sustained the "partial fracture" while scoring the equaliser for Arsenal in their 2-1 comeback win against Manchester United FC in the Premiership on Sunday. An x-ray after the game confirmed his fifth metatarsal had been damaged and he is likely to be out of action for at least six weeks.

Match Report: Arsenal v/s FC Porto

For a side whose reputation has been built upon the beautiful game, this was Arsenal’s version of “winning ugly”.Of course, Arsène Wenger’s side only drew in Porto on Wednesday night but the point was enough to send them through as the winners of Group G.Both teams came into the game well aware that a stalemate would see them progress — no matter what CSKA Moscow could do at Hamburg. That fact seemed to hang over the game for the entire 90 minutes.

Jens Lehmann had few real alarms. They came for a point and got it.Wenger was already without Thierry Henry through suspension and, somewhat surprisingly, chose to leave another striker, Robin van Persie, on the bench. Emmanuel Adebayor was asked to plough a lone furrow up front and Mathieu Flamini was brought in to bolster the midfield.The move was inspired by the fact Arsenal only needed a draw to win the group.

The visitors created a promising opening in the dying seconds of the half. Fabregas fed Hleb in the right hand channel. The Belarus international got to the byline but his cut back was cut out.Three minutes after the restart Quaresma’s low shot rebound back off the base of the post.
Fabregas curled a free kick into the hands of Porto keeper Helton a few minutes later. The second half was certainly more lively than the first. The game was more stretched and there were openings for both sides. Neither took them.

CSKA had trailed in Hamburg early on but, midway through the half, the Russian side were in front. It meant a positive result here would send the victor top and the loser out.If this was communicated to the players then it would only turn a cautious game into a virtually paranoid one. Certainly the last few minutes petered out into nothing.

But, ultimately, at the full time whistle both sides had got what they wanted. Porto were through and Arsenal were top.

Starting Line ups:

Arsenal:
_______________

• Jens Lehmann
• Gael Clichy
• Johan Djourou
• Emmanuel Eboue
• Kolo Toure
• Francesc Fabregas
• Mathieu Flamini
• Gilberto
• Fredrik Ljungberg
• Alexander Hleb
• Emmanuel Adebayor

FC Porto:
____________________

• da Helton
• Eduardo Bruno Alves
• Kleper Pepe
• Jorge Fucile
• Silva Paulo Assuncao
• Lucho Gonzalez
• Jose Raul Meireles
• José Bosingwa
• Ricardo Quaresma
• Lisandro Lopez
• Helder Postiga

Eight teams decided for UCL Knockout stages

Today Eight teams were decided to go through to knockout stages of the champions league remaining eight will be decided after the Wednesday's fixtures.

From Group A Chelsea and Barcelona proceed with both clinching a 2-0 victory at their respective homes.

From Group B Bayern Munich and Inter Milan go through. Both sides were drawn level on match day 6 with a last minute strike from Patrick Vieira.

From Group C Liverpool and PSV Eindhoven go through. Both lost their ties on match day 6.

From Group D Valencia and Roma progress with the Italian side beating the Spanish in their last group tie.

Barcelona v/s Werder Bremen(5th December, 2006)

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Barcelona will look to avoid an embarrassing early exit from the Champions League and an unwanted place in the history books when they take on Werder Bremen on Tuesday.It is crunch time for Frank Rijkaard's side, who know anything other than three points at the Nou Camp will see Barca become the first defending champions to fail to make the knockout stage of the Champions League.For German opponents Bremen, a point in Spain would be enough for them to join Chelsea in the last 16.

FC Porto v/s Arsenal(6th December, 2006)

This tie against the 2004 champions league winners is a must-not-loose game. A draw will send both the teams into the Champions League Knockout stages leaving CSKA Moskow out. Arsenal Defeated Porto 2-0 on their visit to the Emirates in September when Henry hit his 50th European goal. Henry will not be playing in this game due to suspension. Porto are doing well in the domestic league and will be a tough nut to crack at the dragon stadium.

FC Porto Fact File:

Club colours
Blue and white striped shirts, blue shorts, white socks

Ground Estádio do Dragão (Dragon Stadium) (52,948)

Manager/Coach Jesualdo Ferreira

Squad
Goalkeepers
Helton, Paulo Ribeiro, Vítor Baía.

Defenders
Ricardo Costa, Ezequias, Jorge Fucile, Pedro Emanuel, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Marek Cech, Joao Paulo, Jose Bosingwa.

Midfielders
Ricardo Alan, Lucho Gonzalez, Barreto Ibsen, Paulo Assuncao, Anderson, Jorginho, Diogo Valente, Sektioui, Ricardo Quaresma, Raul Meireles.

Forwards
Helder Postiga, Lisandro Lòpez, Tomislav ?okota, Adriano, Bruno Moraes, Vieirinha.

Website www.fcporto.pt

European Honours

European Cup Winners	1987, 2004
UEFA Cup Winners	2003
European Super Cup Winners	1988

Ten Facts on... FC Porto

• Futebol Clube do Porto was said to have been founded in Porto in 1893 by a wine-salesman Antònio Nicolau de Almeida. He first had contact with the game of football in one of his trips to England.
• FC Porto play at the 53,000 Estádio do Dragão (Dragon Stadium). It was completed in 2003 in time to host Euro 2004. The stadium's name and the club nickname of "The Dragons" is derived from the dragon that sits on top of the club crest. The club are also known as "Azuis e Brancos" (Blue and Whites)
• Porto have never won away to an English team. They have travelled here on seven occasions but a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in the 2003/04 Champions League first knockout round is the best they have managed.
• FC Porto have appeared in two European Cup finals, winning both. In 1987 Bayern Munich were beaten 2-1 in Vienna and in 2004 Jose Mourinho led his team to victory 3-0 over Monaco in Germany. Having won the UEFA Cup the previous year, Porto became the first club to win the two major European trophies in consecutive seasons.
• Porto failed to win away from home in last season’s Champions League. They finished bottom in a group which also included Inter Milan, Rangers and Artmedia Bratislava. In fact, Porto have won only one of their last seven away matches in the competition, losing five and drawing one.
• Former Arsenal player Tommy Docherty managed FC Porto between 1970 and 1971. Former England manager Bobby Robson also had a spell in charge of 'The Dragons' leading them to back-to-back titles in 1995 and 1996.
• The 21-time Portuguese champions have played 93 games in the Champions League, winning 35, drawing 25 and losing 33. They have scored 110 goals and conceded 107.
• Their game against Hamburg on October 17 will see the club reach the 250-match landmark in all UEFA club competitions. To date they have played 248, winning 114, drawing 53 and losing 81. They have scored 369 goals, which is exactly 100 more than they have conceded.
• FC Porto's biggest Champions League win came in March 1994 when they won 5-0 at Werder Bremen. Their heaviest defeat in the competition is 4-0, a scoreline they have suffered on two occasions, away to Manchester United in the Quarter Finals in 1996/97 and away to Real Madrid in the group stages the following season.
• As well as football, FC Porto also provide teams for basketball, billiards, boxing, chess, fishing, karate, roller-hockey and weightlifting.