Micah Richards claims Arsenal would expose Barcelona’s high defensive line (The Rest Is Football)
Micah Richards believes Arsenal would ‘batter’ Barcelona if they met in the Champions League semi-final.
Mikel Arteta’s side secured their place in the Champions League quarter-final with a 3-1 aggregate win against Bayer Leverkusen last month and they will now face Sporting CP in the first leg on Tuesday night.
If Arsenal beat the Portuguese side, they will then play either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid for a place in the Champions League final on May 30.
Barcelona produced a brilliant second-half display to seal a 7-2 win against Newcastle United in the second leg of their Round of 16 clash but Richards claims the La Liga leaders would be convincingly beaten by Arsenal if they played the same high defensive line.
Arsenal will play Sporting CP in the Champions League quarter-final (Getty)
‘When you look at the Premier League, Man City have been off, we’ve talked about Chelsea and Liverpool, Man United are coming back stronger now, this is an opportunity for them [Arsenal] to capitalise on two big trophies,’ Richards told The Rest Is Football.
‘I look at the Champions League and the way Arsenal play defensively, I said it a couple of weeks ago, they can win it, they would be one of my favourites, they have a better chance to win that because defensively and they always nick a goal.
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‘With the Premier League, I thought it would be closer now and I thought it would go to the Man City game but they’ve got the little edge on that now.
The Champions League quarter-final draw (UEFA)
‘If you’re looking at Arsenal’s potential route to the Champions League final you’d take that all day and then you’re thinking you’ve got that little buffer in the Premier League.
‘Arsenal would beat Barcelona. If Barcelona play that high line then Arsenal would absolutely batter them.
‘If they take it back five yards, Barcelona could absolutely batter Arsenal.
‘Martinelli, 100 per cent, would absolutely love to play against that without doubt. Even Gyokeres, he’s not the quickest but he’s a strong runner, all his goals before at Sporting, that’s what he used to do, so I think if they play a high line against Arsenal, Arsenal would absolutely batter them.’
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