We are going all the way
By MARK IRWIN in Turin, The Sun (London, England)
THIERRY HENRY set his sights on winning the Champions League after Arsenal reached the last four for the first time.
The Gunners snuffed out Italian giants Juve to book a semi-final first leg with Spaniards Villarreal in two weeks’ time.
But skipper Thierry Henry is not content with just that. He said: “I’m really proud — but I’m a winner and that’s not the kind of history I’m looking to make.
“The squad is trying to go all the way, winning it. It’s a good day for the club so let’s extend it.
“When you wear the Arsenal jersey you’ve got that winning feeling in your blood. We didn’t concede a goal against Real Madrid, we didn’t concede against Juve.
“It was all down to concentration. In this kind of game, a little lack of concentration and you can pay.”
Arsenal set a Champions League record with their EIGHTH clean sheet in a row while Juventus had playmaker Pavel Nedved sent off late on for two bookings.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said: “It went according to plan — when Nedved was sent off that was the end of the game.”
This triumph meant Wenger had finally led Arsenal into the Champions League semi-finals at the EIGHTH attempt.
He laughed: “I was beginning to worry that people thought I was the handicap!
“So tonight I am delighted to prove that is not the case.
“I am so happy for the club to have finally reached the semi-finals. There have been times before when we were expected to make it and did not.
“Frankly, there were times when it would have been easier to get there than this year.
“I know there were no Englishmen in our team but I still feel this is a victory for English football.
“I would never have expected to have a defensive record like that two months ago.
“We have had to play with a lot of young players at the back. To play four games against Real Madrid and Juventus and not concede a goal is a tremendous achievement.
“I felt we were always in control of this game. And as long as Juventus didn’t score a goal, we were in a position where we didn’t have to come out.
“I wanted us to push up but the psychological desire of the players was to protect their lead.
“The final turning point came when Jens Lehmann made an important save from Nedved.”
But Wenger denied Arsenal were now favourites to reach their first Champions League final.
He added: “Villarreal are a very good technical team with a special talent in Riquelme. He has a lot of charisma and can punish any team if you give him the chance.
“But we are not the favourites to win the semi-final. Arsenal and Villarreal are the two teams who no one expected to get this far so I would say it’s now 50-50 for the final.”
Midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who was outstanding in the first leg, said: “They all deserve a 10 out of 10 today. They should get all the credit in the world.”
Juve coach Fabio Capello blasted the home fans as ‘masochistic’ for jeering the team and burning flags.
He added: “Arsenal were dangerous on the counter-attack and, in the second half, we created a lot but were not able to score.
“If Arsenal keep in such good physical shape, then they will be very difficult to beat.”