Wenger: We can’t be stupid v Barcelona at home

Arsene Wenger is convinced that the Gunners have their best ever chance of beating Barcelona with his current title challengers – as long as they don’t do anything daft.

Arsenal lost to the Spanish giants in the 2006 Champions League final and then were defeated over two legs in 2010 and 2011.

Five years ago they won the first leg 2-1 but then lost 3-1 at the Nou Camp; Wenger clearly believes that a side featuring Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez can do better.

“It’s our best chance no matter how big the chance is. We have to take it and have a go at them. I believe in these big games, in the first tie at home, we can’t be stupid,” said the Gunners boss.

“Many times we’ve won away and at home we have conceded. We have to find a good balance between defending and attacking.”

Captain Per Mertesacker says that Arsenal must be more decisive, saying after Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Hull: “Overall, we missed a bit of something and we have to come back quickly in three days’ time. We have a very important game, the first leg against Barcelona, and we will see the fans again – it will be another buzzing night but it is up to us how we perform.

“It is down to us. We produced a good defensive performance [against Hull] but overall in the final third, that little final pass at the end, we always rushed ourselves at times to finish, so we need to learn from that.”