Barcelona ready to weave their magic at Arsenal

He added: “I know they have exceptional individual talent”.

On the threat posed by the attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar, Wenger said: “They are the most efficient [strike force in the world]”.

“It’s more hard to prepare against Hull than against Barcelona”, Wenger said Monday.

Arsenal have suffered from poor results in the opening leg of knockout Champions League ties in recent years, last season losing 3-1 at home to Monaco before being eliminated on away goals following a 2-0 victory in the principality.

The three forwards have 81 goals between them from the Spanish league, Copa del Rey, and Champions League this season, and their team heads into the first leg at Emirates Stadium as the clear favorite.

They have one of the best goalkeepers in their ranks and moreover Wenger isn’t as stubborn as he used to be. The Catalans are super favourites, we need to raise the urgency level.

“They look like they have a little less possession than when we played them before because they had a player like Xavi in midfield who, in every single game, had over 100 passes and he allowed them always to have possession”.

Barca, propelled by the free-scoring triumvirate of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, are strongly fancied to condemn the Gunners to a sixth consecutive exit at the last 16 stage. On the other hand, Barcelona is a very offensive team.

But neither pundit expect Arsenal to beat Barcelona.

But, while Wenger admits the 27-year-old will be keen to show his former employers what they are missing, the Frenchman wants Sanchez to manage his temperament on a big night for the club. At the moment they have a team who, at any moment, can score.

“I made the decisions that I thought were best for my team”.

They are firmly entrenched in the Premier League title race, are favorites to three-peat as FA Cup champions, and are in the last 16 of the Champions League. If we get a good score tomorrow that would be fantastic, but we have a lot of confidence going into the second leg whatever happens.

Luis Enrique takes on Arsenal for the first time as Barcelona’s coach.