Arsenal supporters to snub Champions League tie
Published 23:00 27/09/11 By John Cross
Arsene Wenger claims the Champions League is in a class of its own.
The Arsenal boss believes it is a better competition than even the World Cup.
Which makes it even harder to understand why the Gunners' group game against Olympiacos on Wednesday is not a sell-out - with some season ticket holders set to stay away, even though the match is included in their allocation.
It is by no means a unique problem for Arsenal either.
Only 33,920 turned up for Chelsea's match with Bayer Leverkusen two weeks ago.
Perhaps these incidents show fan interest in group matches is waning, but that is something Wenger cannot understand.
He thinks the Champions League is the ultimate spectacle for any football supporter.
Instead, the Frenchman blames the bigger problem is the worldwide financial squeeze.
"We live in a society where life is more difficult for everybody," said Wenger. "We have had a combination of us not having started well and people suffering more in daily life.
"That makes it a bit more difficult. The other day, when Chelsea played against Leverkusen, it was not a sell-out, so it is more difficult to sell-out.
"I always said that club football is better than national-team football - by far.
"You have the best players from a country in the national team. In any big club you have the best players of all the countries in the world. It's as simple as that. You will see the best football in the world, of course.
"Not necessarily [on Wednesday], but if you take the world champions, Spain. What is Barcelona? It's Spain plus Messi, plus Alves, plus, plus. Logic says it is better than the national team - and Spain is the best team in the world."
Arsenal have become used to selling out every game and having a long waiting list for season tickets, yet Saturday's win over Bolton was a rarity in falling below the Emirates' capacity.
They did, however, manage the best attendance of the last round of the Carling Cup, as 46,539 turned up for the win over League Two side Shrewsbury.
The recession has bitten football, but Arsenal's consistency in the Champions League - they have qualified for it every single year of Wenger's reign - has also seen the lure of European football wear off for supporters.
This season may be their toughest yet when it comes to getting into the top four after their indifferent start to the league campaign and the sales of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.
But Wenger believes Arsenal's poor start in domestic competition is also linked to their Champions League exertions - they were pushed to the limit by Udinese in their two-leg qualifying play-off, then lost at Blackburn just four days after drawing at Borussia Dortmund.
Arsenal have made the Emirates a fortress in years past - seeing off Barcelona at home last season - and their home form has been the cornerstone of their European success.
If recent seasons are anything to go by, they will have to rely heavily on that home form to get them into the knock-out stages as their away results have been poor - losing six out of their last eight Champions League games proper.
"You want maximum points at home because you qualify with 11 or 12 points, so we know what is at stake," added Wenger, before following up his Friday claim that he was like a polar bear by comparing his team to a late-running train.
"We are a train that started a bit late in the station so we cannot afford to drop our consistency.
"What is at stake for us is that we are consistent with our results, with our focus and with the way we want to play.
"We have paid a heavy price in the Premier League for the quality of our performances in the Champions League.
"We played Liverpool after having played Udinese and we played Man United after having played at Udinese - a game that was terrible for us because it was 33 degrees at night, it was unbelievably hot.
"We had to give everything, we lost three or four players in that game and we had to go to Man United. It was a bit too much.
"After we went to Dortmund, we went to Blackburn. So we had the bad luck to play twice away after the Champions League, and it's difficult for everybody. Look on Saturday at what happened."
Olympiacos are seen as the weakest side in Group F and have an appalling record in England, yet Wenger insists the reigning Greek champions should not be taken lightly.
The Athens side have lost on all nine of their visits to this country, conceding 29 goals and managing just one of their own - and that came seven years ago.
"We have a lot of respect for Olympiacos," said Wenger. "I have seen the game against Marseille [the opening group game, which the French side won 1-0 in Athens], they played well.
"You never win easy in the Champions League - when you give absolutely everything, you have a chance to win.
"If we have not learned that from 14 consecutive years in the Champions League, then we are really stupid. If you do not prepare properly, then you have no chance.
"Any victory will help us this season. I have always been optimistic because I feel that the players are mentally strong, focused, I am impressed by the quality of all the players we brought in.
"That's why even before the Bolton game I was very positive about our future. But that is what's at stake for us - to show we can deliver week-in week-out."
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