Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the game, but the Frenchman lags behind the elite coaches in one regard; he has not won the Champions League yet in his career.
Despite being in Europe for almost 2 decades, Wenger has come close to winning the Champions League only ones. It was in 2006 when Arsenal lost in the final against Barcelona. Since then, Arsenal have actually regressed in this competition and they are on the verge of being knocked out of the last 16 stage once again.
Despite this, defender Kieran Gibbs says that the players are very much looking forward to winning the title for their manager. Several questions have been asked about Wenger’s ability to sustain the club in the top four, but he has been able to do so with limited resources compared to other clubs like Tottenham and Liverpool. Now, he is hoping that Champions League success comes to the Emirates stadium for the first time in the history of the club.
Just like Wenger, Arsenal are also yet to taste success in the European cup despite their long history. Last season, the club were knocked out by Bayern Munich and now they have suffered a 3-1 defeat against Monaco in the first leg.
“It is the one thing the players would choose to win for him over anything else.It is big for us but probably biggest for him.You can tell he is desperate to win it. He is really excited by the Champions League — it is probably his favourite competition. We analyse the teams very thoroughly and he just speaks about it as a special competition to be involved in. We want to do well for him,” said Gibbs, who has featured in 26 matches this season.