Arsenal will be staging their first appearance in the UEFA Champions League semis on Wednesday when they play Villarreal at the Highbury, a stadium that witnesses its last European match ever. "It's difficult for me to put into words what Highbury has meant to me. It's an extraordinary stadium, people talk about the crowd and the ground itself," Arsenal captain Thierry Henry said ahead of the game. "I've got great memories from over the years and you can't think about Arsenal without thinking of Highbury." But Arsenal's main target won't be about memories rather than their future in what can be an out-of-the-blue glory in a season marked by disappointing results. Despite struggling in their domestic campaign and missing some key players like Jose Antonio Reyes, Arsenal are favorites after ousting Real Madrid and Juventus respectively in the past two rounds. They also made a record of eight consecutive games without conceding a goal although they miss the whole starting back line due to a string of injuries. Arsenal depend on their strategy of resilient defense before converting to attack in a blink of an eye, counting on the quality of midfielders like Cesc Fabregas, Robert Pires and Alexander Hleb and the speed and lethal finishes of Henry. "We need to do it like we do in the Premier League - that is one thing which surprised Juve," Henry said.
Can Villarreal spoil Arsenal's celebrations "They are not used to a team having a go at them all the time, going behind their defense, or putting a high pace into the game. That is what we will have to try to do." Villarreal players, however, still see the silver lining and believe that an away goal will make things much easier before hosting the Gunners in El Madrigal next week. "Mental and physical condition is what matters most in a balanced tie like this," midfielder Alessio Tacchinardi, who won the prestigious title in the 1990s with Juventus, was quoted as saying by UEFA.com. "Our ground, El Madrigal, is very important too, but we should try to score an away goal as we did through Diego Forlan at Inter Milan. If we score at Highbury, we can play our own cards at home." Villarreal have a good record with Premiership sides as they eliminated Everton in the qualifying round and managed to hold Manchester United in the group stage. Starting to lose hope in better position in the La Liga standings, Coach Manuel Pellegrini played last domestic league encounter against Barcelona without a numberof key players such as Diego Forlan, Juan Roman Riquelme, Juan Pablo Sorin and Tacchinardi himself. The Spanish side will have to do without first-choice goalkeeper Sebastian Viera, who is suspended for one game, and injured starting stoppers Gonzalo Rodriguez and Juan Manuel Pena.
