Dagens Arsenal 5 mars
Fabregas om sin karriärs största ögonblick, Flamini om styrkan i Arsenal, Adebayor om sitt första Champions League-mål – och självklart en hel del Wenger.
Igår tog avancerade Arsenal till kvartsfinal i Champions League på regerande mästarna AC Milans bekostnad, och vi gjorde det genom en fantastisk insats och en helt rättvis 2-0-seger. Idag verkar hela världen höja Arsenal till skyarna och utse dem till favoriter, men våra spelare och ledare är måna att hålla fötterna på jorden – och Fabregas sa bara minuterna efter matchen att fokus nu ligger på Wigan på söndag.
"The spirit of the team is amazing, and we have to keep going. Now, though, we just have to be focussed on Sunday's game - we have to go to Wigan and win there."
Stort sagt av en stor spelare, och det blir bara bättre.
"It was one of the best moments of my career and I went straight to the boss because without him I would never have had the chance to play in a game like this."
Få spelare springer och kramar sina managers när de gör mål, få är lika ödmjuka vid såna här ögonblick. Han pratar också om hur han varit ur form – men att vändningen nu kommit.
"Maybe I have not been at my best since my injury, but now I feel great once again. This performance has been very important for my confidence. After I had started the season so well and then had an injury, I was not playing the way I used to and I was a bit upset. I needed a performance like this.”
Wenger var förstås väldigt nöjd med lagets insats.
"I have big respect for Milan, but my team deserves a lot of credit - having come here and beaten a team like them. We have given the performance we wanted. We played with organisation and never dropped off. We did not give them time and went forward every time we could. We played with authority, maturity, talent and intelligence.”
Han tror att laget har stor chans att vinna Champions League.
"The competition is very hard now. It is a cup competition, and you have to take it like that. We will go for it - we are in the quarter-final, so why should we not believe we can do it.
"The growing process of a team is a bit like a wave, it goes up suddenly, then down with a few bad results, then it goes up high again.
"This game was of huge significance for my team because in between they did not deliver a convincing result. "Subconsciously for the team, it was very important to see how good they are."
Han har också sagt någonstans att han tror att vi kan ta en väldigt fin dubbel i år. Han fick frågan och svarade: Why not?
Ja, vad ska man säga? Jag tror att vi kan göra det, men jag tror att det blir oerhört svårt att göra det. Nu väntar kvartsfinaler 1-2 april, därefter Pool hemma 5 april, returer 8-9 april och sedan United borta den 12 april. Tufft schema, där vi antingen kan segla iväg med Premier League-titeln och gå till semifinal i Champions League, eller få bägge titelchanserna spolierade. Yisses!
Flamini är mån om nytt kontrakt, och menar att han vill skriva historia med detta unga, härliga lag.
"I am very happy here. Every game I give more than 100% and I love playing for this team," he insisted.
"We are a new generation, we have to create a new history. I want to be part of this history, so I hope I will be here for next season. At the moment my advisers are talking with the club, so I really hope that everything will be okay.”
Tror jag hört det citatet förr, och det lovar gott. Det finns liksom ingen vettig anledning för Flamini att gå till Juventus, inte ens pengar då vi borde kunna matcha deras bud. Flamster fortsätter.
"There are no limits because we are playing the Champions League to win it. We are playing the Premier League to win it too. To concentrate is very important at a very high level. So we are going to stay focused. "
Adebayor sa – konstigt nog – att hans mål var hans viktigaste i karriären.
"My goal was a simple goal, right in front of the posts. It was probably the easiest goal I've ever scored but it's also the most important I've scored in my whole career."
Sorry, Ade, men jag skulle nog vilja säga att samtliga mål du gjort i Premier League har varit viktigare. Känner han inte till bortamålsregeln, månne? Togobayor menar att vi nu kan slå alla lag i världen.
"Beating this Milan team means we can beat every single team in the world," said Adebayor.
"Now we've got that in our heads we can let ourselves go. We took control of the game really well defensively and we showed that we have a good team spirit."
Och Sagna.
"It is a great night for English football, now we will just try to win what we can win," said the right back. "It is too quick to say that [we are favourites]. We'll just go from game to game now. It will be difficult to pass through the next level but we can do it. "
Det var allt för idag, men vilken dag å andra sidan. Leendet har liksom aldrig försvunnit från läpparna, och jag som sa att jag tyckte vi skulle fokusera på FA-cupen i stället för Champions League. Shame on me! Jag står ändå fast vid att schemat hade gynnat Premer League-drömmarna bättre, men vem orkar vara realist en dag som denna – nu tågar vi vidare mot en dubbel!
