Arsenal are eyeing the club's first ever Champions League triumph and Patrick Vieira is adamant that European success would see them match the Invincibles for stature
Arsenal have their eyes on a Champions League final - but need to overcome PSG in Paris
Patrick Vieira claims this Arsenal team would be "as big as the Invincibles" if they could claim Champions League success. Mikel Arteta's side are aiming to conquer Europe - which would be a first for the north Londoners.
The Gunners face PSG in the last four, needing to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit when they head to Paris for the return game on Wednesday. They go in as underdogs but have claimed some notable scalps so far in the tournament, making light work of Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.
Arsenal have all their eggs in the European basket after failing to mount a title charge in the Premier League. It is Arteta's only hope of landing a trophy this term, but Vieira believes his team would be on par with Arsene Wenger's Invincibles if they won the Champions League.
The class of 2003/04 made English football history by going unbeaten for an entire campaign en route to their most recent Premier League success. That achievement has them marked out as one of the unique teams.
That season though they went out in the last eight of the Champions League and lost in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. It means this current group at the Emirates can eclipse their European exploits and create their own slice of history.
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Vieira told the Telegraph: “How many times have Arsenal won the Champions League?” After pausing with the answer being zero he added: “Exactly. So this group of players would be remembered as much as the Invincibles [if they win the Champions League] because they would achieve something really quite special for the football club.
"For me, they would be as important and as big as the Invincibles.”
Vieira left Arsenal the year they made their one and only Champions League final. They knocked out Real and Juventus along the way before being downed by Barcelona at the Stade de France in 2006. On that occasion their European exploits covered for a poor domestic season.
Arsenal went unbeaten for an entire 38-game season
Arsenal's loss to PSG last week was only their second defeat in 13 European games this term. They didn't have the ideal preparation for their trip to the Parc des Princes, losing to Bournemouth, but Arteta has remained defiant.
He said: "We certainly wanted to create a really good vibe, a positive result would really help us to build what we wanted towards Wednesday. So what we have created now is a lot of rage, anger, frustration and a bad feeling in the tummy. So make sure that we use that for Wednesday to have a massive performance in Paris, win the game and be in the final."
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