After seeing his side rout Porto at the Emirates Stadium, Arsene Wenger paid tribute to his players, with especial praise reserved for Nicklas Bendtner. The Dane shook off his nightmare misses against Burnley, with a stunning strike and the first hat-trick of his career. Providing the ammunition for Bendtner and later Emmanuel Eboue, Andrey Arshavin’s night’s work was also acknowledged by the Arsenal manager, who also highly commended the magical play from Samir Nasri.

With Andrey Arshavin and Samir Nasri We controlled the game says Arsene Wenger - Listen

Barcelona tie?
Not wanting to get too carried away, Wenger revealed that he wouldn’t be averse to an all English quarter-final against either Manchester United or Chelsea should they progress as expected. However Wenger would not be drawn Thierry Henry’s assertion that his former captain would not want to face the Gunners with Barcelona. The 5-0 thrashing of Porto was all the more remarkable given that Cesc Fabregas was absent with a hamstring injury, but looking ahead to Saturday’s game at Hull, Wenger was optimistic with his captain rated at 50-50 for a return.

Wry smile
As Wenger sat in the post match press conference looking immaculate in a dark blue suit, he answered as forthrightly as he always has. The way his side has responded in the face of injury to Robin Van Persie, and now Aaron Ramsey cannot be understated, and that will allow Wenger a wry smile. Given how Arsenal were written off by so many “ experts,” Wenger will not be surprised to learn that even they now acknowledge that the Arsenal manager could yet prove a lot of them wrong.

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