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"The French strategist Arsene Wenger praised his players for achieving goalless draws with Juventus in Turin and advancing to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.
"I think we controlled the game, and Juventus failed to score against us and create intrigue," said the Frenchman, whose players will face Villarreal in the semi-finals.
It is worth mentioning that in Wednesday's match, the young Arsenal defense managed to keep a clean sheet for the eighth consecutive Champions League match.
"I wanted the team to attack Juventus, but it seems our subconscious said to preserve the advantage we had," said A. Wenger. "There were two turning points in the match: the first was playing for fifteen minutes during which Juventus failed to score, the second was in the final fifteen minutes when Pavel Nedved was sent off the pitch - at that point the game was already over."
Czech P. Nedved was shown a second yellow card and sent off the field in the 77th minute, leaving Juventus with ten men.
Fabio Capello's team seemed lackluster in this match and showed little desire to attack. In Wenger's opinion, the Italians were afraid of Arsenal's dangerous attacking play, which they demonstrated in the first leg.
"I think they had a psychological fear from the first match. They tried to play long passes, but we dealt well with that," said the Frenchman.
Wenger noted in a press conference that this year is the first time Arsenal has crossed the barrier of the Champions League quarterfinals.
"I am very happy for the club, every year we expect to achieve something in the Champions League, but it didn't work out before. This year no one expected us to do it, but we made it to the semi-finals," celebrated the strategist, adding that not competing for the Premier League title in England probably helped them.
When asked if the victory could be considered a triumph of English football, as there were no English players in the starting lineup, Wenger responded: "It's hard to say it's a triumph of English football. It's a triumph of a team that loves to play football. I think we represent English football."
