‘If you draw Barcelona, don’t bother coming home!’ – Arsenal official reacts to Champions League draw

Arsenal club secretary David Miles revealed his family told him “if you draw Barcelona, don’t bother coming home” prior to the Gunners being paired with Luis Enrique’s side in the Champions League.

After finishing as runners-up in Group F, Arsenal were vulnerable to drawing a top team and were pulled out of the hat alongside the current holders in Monday’s draw in Nyon.
Barcelona have twice beaten Arsenal in the quarter-finals in recent seasons as well as inflicting defeat on them in the final in 2006, but Miles is looking forward to the tie.

“We are delighted to be here for the 16th successive season,” he said to the Mirror after the draw. “On the back of the great win in Athens, we were hoping for a good draw.

“My family said ‘If you draw Barcelona, don’t bother coming home’.

“We’re sitting top of the Premier League, come February-March we’ll have some players back and it would be great to take them on with our full-strength side.”

Arsenal were knocked at the last 16 stage by Monaco last season and Miles admits they face a very difficult proposition this year.

“I think it’s probably the tie of the round and it’s not going to be easy,” he added. “I think most Arsenal fans would have wanted to avoid them but it’s up to us to put on a performance.

“We’ve got our own world-class players and it will be two fantastic games that we are looking forward to.”

Source – Goal.com

Edited by aderinwaledavid