Arsène Wenger said last night that he wanted to be drawn against Manchester United or Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-finals after Arsenal became the first English team to reach this season's last eight. A hat-trick from Nicklas Bendtner and brilliant goals from Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Eboué left fans at the Emirates Stadium in raptures as Arsenal beat Porto 5-0 for a 6-2 aggregate victory in their round-of-16 tie.
But while Wenger's team have lost all four Barclays Premier League matches against United and Chelsea this season, the manager claimed that he would welcome the opportunity to exact revenge. "I have a funny feeling that maybe it is good for us to play an English team," Wenger said. "We have not done well against Chelsea and not done well against United this year, and it will be a good opportunity to show that we can do it against them. "It's a good opportunity if we get them to show we can do well. If I had a choice I would say yes. If we get them we cannot do worse than we did in the championship, we can only do better." Before the Frenchman gets his wish, Arsenal's domestic rivals have work to do before they can contemplate joining them in next week's draw. United face AC Milan at Old Trafford tonight with the advantage of a 3-2 first-leg lead, and Chelsea seek to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Inter Milan on Tuesday.
Wenger praised Bendtner for recovering his composure after last weekend's horror show against Burnley, when he missed at least four clear chances from close range, but also warned the 22-year-old not to get carried away after the first hat-trick of his career. The Denmark striker's self-belief has been known to offend his team-mates, although they were not complaining after he started the rout with two goals in 15 first-half minutes and finished it with a last-minute penalty. "It shows first of all how quickly football changes, but I hope it will not give him too much confidence," Wenger said. "I'm happy for him because he had a good game on Saturday but missed chances, and today he had less chances and scored three goals. "It's good for his confidence, but I hope it gives him the desire to work even harder. His confidence level is always stable. He has the size and presence we need. We're usually a short team, so someone with size is important, offensively and defensively." Bendtner said: "Sometimes it's one of those days [against Burnley] and today I put it right. I'm happy with my hat-trick, but tomorrow we move on. "It will give us a lot of confidence. We want to win the Champions League. It's something we haven't done. We scored all our chances today, which is very positive."
Wenger also singled out Nasri for praise after the France midfield player crowned a magnificent performance by scoring one of the goals of the season. However, the manager gave notice that Nasri will return to the left wing when Cesc Fàbregas recovers from a hamstring injury. "What he showed tonight he has shown in training and we expected it to come out during the games," Wenger said. "He has a talent and has shown that tonight. He made a great pass to [Andrey] Arshavin [in the build-up to the first goal] and scored a great goal. "The great players are the players who score and make goals. He can play in the middle, but when Fàbregas is back, he will play wide. "Overall we controlled the game, scored great goals and were good to watch. We did what we like to do - we won with style and always went forward in a positive way. If I don't smile tonight, I will never smile."