'This competition is at a higher level this year'

With a two-goal lead from the first leg, we are favourites to progress past AC Milan and reach the Europa League quarter-finals.

Arsene Wenger is impressed with the strength of the competition this season, and he discussed that and Per Mertesacker's recent comments in his pre-match press conference.

This is what he said:

on the fact there’s no game straight after this one and if it makes it easier for him to pick a strong team…

No, it’s never easy for me because I always have to leave top players out. Players sometimes have done very well in the last game, so it’s never easy. But you always pick the team that you think has the best chances to win the next game.

on whether it’s better to go further in the Europa League rather than elimination in the round of 16 of the Champions League…

You never compare. You’re right, I want to be in the Champions League and in the Europa League, if you look at the teams that are in there, it is very strong. We play Milan to have a chance to qualify for the quarter-final. You look who is in there [the current round] and there is Milan, Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, we have all the French teams, some good French teams. You have many good teams in there and this competition is maybe this season, at a higher level than ever.

on whether that works against us because a lot of people would’ve had us down as favourites when the competition began…

Anything can run against you. What we want is to produce a performance that is expected from us and then you give your best and you have to accept that this competition is very tight.

on Mertesacker’s quotes…

How do I respond to that? I know that. It’s not a surprise to me. To be a professional football player is about facing a huge level of expectation. First of all from yourself because these players are at the level that they are because they’re very demanding with themselves. That creates stress of course, and the huge expectation level from the environment also creates the stress. To play at the level they play at today, you need to have a huge resistance to stress. Somewhere you’re a little bit dependent on your body. To express what you want to do, you always need your body to be at your service and that creates stress because you never know how your body will respond, how well you will feel, how much your reflexes will be there in a game. It’s always an uncertainty that creates the stress.



on Mertesacker saying he would rather never play again…

I think that will go very quickly. Once you stop, after a few months you’re ready to play again. Of course, he has had a very long career. Aaron could confirm this, but Per puts pressure on himself in every single training session. He never plays one minute without being totally focused. That demands a huge amount of effort and it’s why he’s made the career he’s had as well.