Football United

Arsenal FC are imposing dazzling new standards in England with an unbeaten league run that stretches to a record 45 games but they start a new UEFA Champions League campaign at home against PSV Eindhoven vowing to return to basics.

Inter memories
Arsène Wenger's side began last year's foray in Europe with a 3-0 home defeat by FC Internazionale. They recovered to reach the quarter-final stage, the club's best run, but even so the manager says they must not forget the lessons of that bitter Matchday 1 experience when they take on their Group E rivals at Highbury.

Wenger's regrets
"We rushed it a little bit and went into the Champions League thinking we had to make a difference and that we had to do well in Europe because we had not done well before," Wenger recalled. "We forgot the basics. We were too much in a rush to score goals and we have to learn from that."

Premiership run
Wenger's team have won all five of their Premiership fixtures so far, scoring 19 goals in the process, and the manager has stressed to his squad that they should not make a distinction between this game and any other this season. "It is basically just a football match and what we want to do is focus on the quality of our game, to try and improve that quality and to relax."

'Good momentum'
In what must rank as a serious understatement, Wenger said that after five games "it looks like we are slowly getting into our pace". He added: "We have a good momentum in the league and we want to take that into the Champions League."

Difference of opinion
Some commentators in England believe the current Arsenal side cannot join the pantheon of legends until they become European champions, but the Frenchman denies that the Champions League has become his 'Holy Grail'. "It's presented that way but for me it's about having a good side," Wenger said. "I love the way my players approach the game and I want them to be faithful to that. After that we will win what we deserve to win."

Ljungberg hope
Fredrik Ljungberg has a slight back problem but is expected to play. England defender Sol Campbell is training again after his achilles injury and should return to the side at the end of the month leaving only Jérémie Aliadière as a long-term casualty.

PSV strengths
Wenger revealed that last season's statistics showed their Dutch visitors to be the best in Europe at keeping possession so "we have to be focused when we lose the ball to win it back". PSV coach Guus Hiddink, who at the weekend celebrated his 150th Eredivisie victory with a 1-0 win against RKC Waalwijk, will be hoping to improve on last season when his team amassed ten points but still found themselves edged out by AS Monaco FC and RC Deportivo La Coruña.

Attacking tactics
PSV can no longer rely on the pace and goalscoring skills of Mateja Kezman and Arjen Robben, who have both joined Chelsea FC's big-money bid to end Arsenal's reign as English champions, but Hiddink says they are a more "capable" team now. How to stop Arsenal, though? Not by relying on defensive measures, declared the coach.

Bøgelund out
"We are not capable of defending like the Italian teams and if we want any chance of getting a result we must take some initiatives," Hiddink said. He is without defender Kasper Bøgelund, sidelined for six weeks with a thigh injury, but can otherwise select from a full squad.

Source: Uefa.com