Thierry Henry believes Arsenal’s congested fixture schedule this season could hinder their chances in the Champions League.
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Mikel Arteta’s side are back in Europe’s elite competition for the first time in six years and began their campaign with an impressive 4-0 victory over PSV at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Last season, Arsenal crashed out of the Europa League at the round-of-16 stage as they were beaten by Sporting CP and Henry is unsure whether Arteta’s squad has enough depth to cope in the latter stages of the Champions League this term.
When asked by fellow CBS Sports pundit Jamie Carragher if he believes Arsenal are capable of winning the Champions League, Henry said after the 4-0 win over PSV: ‘It’s early, Jamie, really.’
Carragher then replied: ‘The reason I ask, I get what you’re saying, it’s the first time they’ve been in it for a long time, if you think of the strength of the Premier League, they are probably the closest challengers to Man City in the Premier League.’
Henry then said: ‘As a fan, I want them to win it. As a fan, I wish we could win it.
‘But the depth, playing the league, playing all the competitions that you have to play in England… it might be too much.
‘But if you said to me that Inter would get to the final last year I would’ve said no right from the start. If you said AC Milan would get to the semi final I would’ve said no.
‘If you said to me, also, although I was playing for Arsenal, with that team we went to the final in 2006 I would’ve said no, the way the season was going, but we went.
‘So you’ve got to believe, you never know what can happen, you have teams that are way ahead in terms of what people would say in terms of being in the competition, playing already, big games in that competition, winning it already, so those guys are ahead.
‘But as you know, if you go through the group stage, who will you play, are you on the right side of the draw or not? I don’t have anything against Italian teams but last year they were on the right side of the draw, whatever people are saying to me. That also matters but as an Arsenal man I would love them to win it, obviously.’
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