The interval between Champions League round of 16 matches is much shorter than the two-month wait from the end of the group stage to the start of the knockout stage, and Arsenal have just finished their league game with Tottenham Hotspur here, and they will have to rush to Italy to meet the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 with Roma.

At this time, Wenger's heart is actually full of great doubts, because Arsenal has gone hand in hand with three lines this season, and all three lines have maintained the hope of running to the end, which is both a huge pride and a huge pressure.

In the past few seasons, Arsenal either took an early break in the FA Cup, or had no hope of winning the league title, and had no worries about relegation.

However, this year has been very different, the team has also suffered some injuries, but the consistent play of the likes of Descartes and Van Persie has kept Arsenal alive the hope of moving forward on all fronts, but it is this hope that has caused problems for Wenger.

In the FA Cup, they beat Burnley 3-0 to reach the semi-finals, and their next opponent is Hull City, who will clearly not be able to stop them from going any further and progressing to the FA Cup semi-finals, where they will be the winner between Coventry City and Chelsea, in fact, it is almost certain that their opponents will be Chelsea.

In the league, Arsenal is still 7 points behind Manchester United, this point difference is very embarrassing, there are 13 rounds left in the league, it is too early to say that it is too early to give up, but to say that it is trying its best to catch up, and being dragged by the Champions League and FA Cup, it always feels like it is impossible to enter the game freely.

The situation in the Champions League is slightly better, at least the hope of advancing to the next round of the game is much greater than that of the Roma team, but the Champions League is full of crises and ups and downs, the opponents are all extremely vicious, and they will be torn to pieces if they are not careful, Arsenal has performed well in the Champions League in the first two seasons, at least reaching the semi-finals, but if you want to go further, you have always lacked something.

Arsene Wenger believes that it would be very painful to say which front to give up now, but if you want to stick to all three fronts, will the team have enough perseverance and physical strength to support it?

He decided to leave this issue to the players to discuss, Wenger is one of the more ** among the coaches, the Arsenal players under his rule have a lot of autonomy, Arsenal players are always able to adapt to the team quickly, it is because Wenger gives them the maximum **, so that they can play to the fullest extent on and off the field, if it is replaced by Ferguson, Descartes and Walcourt and others often go to the bar The behavior has already been blown by the hair dryer countless times.

This issue has also caused a certain amount of controversy among Arsenal's players, with some players believing that they should give up one or two games and make every effort to secure a title, after all, Arsenal has not won a title for four years, which is a very embarrassing record for a giant like Arsenal; However, there are also some players who think that they should aim higher, so that even if they don't reach their goals at the end of the season, they will at least have some gains.

The two voices of controversy did not last long, because Arsenal now has a different leader, compared with Henry's gentleness and Cesc Fabregas's silence, Descartes definitely belongs to the hot-blooded radicals, in his opinion, there is no need to argue about this kind of thing, Arsenal's goal should be the championship, any championship can not give up, what is the double crown, the triple crown, Descartes wants, every champion.

As for the concern of some teammates that too much of a busy schedule would cause a double drop in physical strength and energy, and that the gains might outweigh the losses, Descartes refuted this, and his words were sonorous: "Who are we? We're professionals, we get paid to do things, we chase the highest honors, and the club spends millions of dollars a year, so is it just for us to compete for second and third place? We must be worthy of every penny we take, we must be worthy of the love of tens of millions of fans, and those who can't persevere to the end are not worthy of being my teammates! ”

Such a resolute oath silenced all Arsenal players, even if some people were dissatisfied in private, but in the face of Descartes' strength, they were powerless to refute, and finally the opinion after "unification" reached Wenger: do your best to fight for every championship and never give up any game!

Arsene Wenger was very happy with this, and the attitude of the players was even more resolute than he was, which was not often seen in the past when Thierry Henry or Cesc Fabregas were in power, and only when Patrick Vieira was captain did the Arsenal dressing room have such a bloody voice, Wenger is increasingly eager to establish Descartes as the new leader of the team.

After the match with Roma, Wenger actually found Fabregas privately to listen to his opinion on Barcelona's offer, this time Fabregas did not hide it anymore, because Guardiola's attitude was very resolute, Wenger was tired of ripping, Barcelona was also tired of Fabregas's Wentun, they gave an ultimatum, if they don't come, they won't wait!

Of course, Wenger hopes that Fabregas will not leave, but Xiaofa's idea is diametrically opposed to him, Xiaofa was born and grew up in Si, and his feelings for Barcelona can not be replaced anywhere, even if Wenger single-handedly cultivates him into a world-class midfielder, but playing for Barcelona is something he has been dreaming of since the day he landed, and he can't refuse to go home**, so he can only say sorry to Wenger.

This time Wenger did not insist, the two masters and apprentices finally got together and dispersed, Fabregas agreed not to suppress the price for Barcelona on the transfer fee, and Wenger could only agree once the offer was suitable, he would not prevent Xiaofa from leaving.

After the agreement was reached, Wenger sadly left Cesc Fabregas's home, and the law couldn't wait to call Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola to inform him of the good news.

Barca reacted swiftly, sending an offer to Arsenal Athletic the next day, but their offer was mercilessly denied by Arsene Wenger, who offered £30 million for the youngsters.

You know, in order to prevent Xiaofa from transferring to Barcelona last year, Wenger and the board directly proposed a price of 80 million pounds - the same price as Real Madrid to buy Ronaldo, which is to completely dispel the Catalans' delusions about Fabregas. Now although Wenger's tone has loosened, Barcelona's offer is too cheap, do they think that Arsenal's captain is only worth Ronaldo's **?

Of course, Barcelona also knew that this offer could not impress Wenger and the Arsenal board, but they abided by the basic rules of the mall, asking for a sky-high price, and paying back the money on the ground, and they had to know Arsenal's psychological price before they could continue to make up their minds.

Arsene Wenger's price this time is 70 million pounds, which is a little lower than the previous price comparable to Cristiano Ronaldo, but it is still the second transfer price in the world, and this price is definitely not worth it in Barcelona's view: Cesc Fabregas has been determined to return to Barcelona, so he even rejected Real Madrid's offer of 46 million pounds, for such a player, they do not need to spend a high price to get him.

Finally, after a series of consultations and negotiations, the two sides finally set the final transfer price, 40 million euros, of which Barcelona paid 29 million immediately, another 6 million floating clause, and the remaining 5 million was slowly deducted from Xiaofa's salary.

This is also because Barcelona caught Xiaofa's eagerness to return to the team's heart, and forced Xiaofa to make concessions on the salary, which is very shameful, but Zhou Yu on both sides played Huang Gai, one was willing to fight, and the other was willing to suffer, so there was no way, only Wenger shook his head regretfully: he finally cultivated a capable player, and made a wedding dress for others.

Cesc Fabregas' move is a long story, but before we take a look at the second leg of the Champions League last-16 clash between Arsenal and Roma.

This game has caused a huge repercussion in Italy, because this season's Champions League Italy 3 teams into the round of 16 and England's four teams that have advanced have a comprehensive collision, Inter vs Manchester United, Roma vs Arsenal, Juventus vs Chelsea, the media called this Champions League round of 16 also known as the Anglo-Italian war, it was the Premier League that squeezed the name of Serie A's "world's first league" down, and the new hatred and old hatred were counted together, how could the Italian media not take advantage of this to build momentum?

However, the prospects of the three teams in Serie A are not good, Juventus and Roma both lost 0:1 away, Inter Milan was drawn 0:0 by Manchester United away from home, the two sides met in the first leg, the English team has a slight upper hand, whether the salted fish can turn over, save the momentum of the Serie A league, it depends on the second leg of the move.

On March 12th, the stadium of the Olympic Park in Rome, the gongs and drums were noisy, the flags were unfurled, if there were Chinese fans coming here, they must feel at home, because at least more than 70,000 fans turned this place into a sea of red and yellow, and most of the fans were still singing while making harsh national curses, among which the frequency of the word "ciao" appeared the highest, in Italian slang, this word and the Chinese "I xx your mother" have the same effect.

The Roma players are also full of expectations for this game, the original 1:7 at Old Trafford had made the Roma players change for a long time, but this time it was okay, they only lost by one goal at the Emirates Stadium in Arsenal, which made the Roma players more or less regain a little confidence, plus the more than 70,000 fans cheered on the scene, their feeling was back to good, this game, they think they have great hope.

However, there is an old Chinese saying that "the higher you climb, the harder you fall", and the Roma players and fans had just raised their hopes when they were hit by Arsenal's relentless blows.

Descartes unexpectedly appeared in Arsenal's starting lineup in this game, in fact, this was requested by Descartes on his own initiative, he had two thoughts: first, he had just made such a sonorous declaration in front of his teammates, of course, he wanted to lead by example and prove his determination not to let go of any championship trophy with practical actions; Second, Descartes rarely has the opportunity to play on Italian soil, don't forget, he is a true Italian, and he also hopes to win more support in Italy, and it is said that the national team coach Lippi will also be there to watch this game, and Descartes certainly wants to perform well in front of Mr. Lippi.

The scrappy Descartes soon had their chances, and because it was at home, Spalletti reverted to the wolfpack tactics he was known for, with Pizarro replacing Brigi as the team's left midfielder, Vucinic, Tadei, Baptista and other attacking players all on the field, and the active Perrotta was put on the bench by Spalletti, who was in Spalletti's calculations, and Perrotta would be the main force in the second half of the game.

But I didn't expect Wenger to wipe him out this time, and Descartes was put on the field in the first half, which completely disrupted Roma's position, attack, or defend? Spalletti was stupid and couldn't tell the difference.

Spalletti was making a mistake, but the Roma players on the pitch did not hesitate, their fighting spirit had already been stirred up by the media before the game, and they were determined to end the fear of the English team with a hearty attack, so from the first minute of the game, they set the field for the decisive battle in front of the field and launched a ferocious attack on the Arsenal goal.

As we have said before, the attacking line of the Roma team has made great progress under the tutelage of Spalletti, but their backline, compared to the three defenders under Capello at the peak, is simply a big regression, in the last game their defensive core Mex was easily deceived by Descartes to expose enough problems, but unfortunately the Roma did not pay attention, they thought that they could suppress everything with attack.

So Descartes quickly made the Romans understand that Arsenal is not those chickens and ducklings in Serie A, let the Romans eat meat, they are more famous than Rome in the world, and Rome is trying to beat Arsenal with attack, which is simply a dream.

In the first 19 minutes of the first half, Roma once again pressed the army, they had two consecutive long-range shots in front of Arsenal's **, which were blocked by Arsenal's defenders.

Roma's shot was blocked twice in quick succession before finally falling to the feet of Diaby, who had no love for it, and quickly passed the ball to Descartes, who made a wonderful one-two with the returning Xiaofa of the game, and then scurried along the wing.

Walcott, who followed him, was sensitive to the middle of Roma, when Roma defender Loria was forced to intercept Descartes laterally, Descartes' pass had passed behind him to Walcott's feet, and in the face of Mex, Walcott did not give the Romans any chance, and a powerful shot pierced Doni's ten fingers.

The important thing is not that Arsenal are taking the lead again, the important thing is that Roma are already 2-0 down, and Arsenal also have an away goal in their hand, which means they have to score three goals if they want to turn the tables!

The difficulty suddenly increased from 1 to 3, not to mention Rome, even Inter Milan led by Mourinho would have a desperate mood, so from this moment on, the hearts of Roma players were actually in turmoil.

The Stadio Olimpico fans chanted Totti's name, and in their minds Totti was omnipotent, leading Roma to victory over Arsenal's ferocious foe.

Totti did do what the fans had hoped for, and between 20 and 36 minutes of the first half, he delivered three clever passes in succession, as well as a brilliant long-range shot, and Arsenal's goal was in danger for a while.

But Arsene Wenger was not slow to react, and he immediately used Alexander. Song replaced Diaby and solidified the midfield defense. After Song was entangled, Totti quickly turned off the fire, and in terms of age and physical fitness, he was no better than Alexander. Song.

The team's spiritual pillar wilted, and Roma's military spirit soon collapsed, and before the end of the first half, they suffered another heavy blow, and it was Descartes, who shifted the ball to the left side on the counterattack, and Van Persie, who was inserted, stopped the ball and burst in**, facing Doni and Mex, who surrounded them, Van Persie picked the ball to the back post, and Descartes, who never stopped, grabbed the header before Loria and scored one of the few important headers in his career.

The difference between the two goals was a death sentence for Roma, who had to score four goals in the middle of the second half in 45 minutes to bring the case back to life, at which point even the most die-hard Roma fans would not dare to dream such a dream, and they could only hope that the team would score one or two face-saving goals and not let their fans feel cold.

However, this most simple prayer could not be satisfied, and in the second half the Roma team lost their souls, moving mechanically on the pitch like a group of numb corpses, Spalletti could not inject spirit into this team that had broken its backbone, but Arsenal were unforgiving, and they scored a goal in the final stages of the game through Robin van Persie to set the score of the game at a humiliating 3-0.

3:0 is not ashamed, the shame is the performance of the Roma team, they have no fighting spirit to save the defeat since they were scored a goal, they surrendered directly like a group of shameful cowards, the Italian media were full of anger at the performance of the Roma team after the game, and even Totti was angrily scolded by them as "lacking the courage and fighting spirit to take responsibility, he does not deserve to be called a leader at all"!

Of course, it will be up to the club and the Roma fans to judge whether Totti qualifies as a leader, but the hearty win has also brought Arsenal back to the attention of the whole of Europe, a team that seems to be a little different from a year ago. (To be continued.) )