Paciencia holds Arsenal as Champions League favourites
Braga's manager, Domingo Paciencia, has said Arsenal are the favourites to win the Champions League after the Londoners thrashed his side 6–0 on Wednesday, September 15.
Paciencia's team could do little to get in the way of Arsenal who, led by Captain Cesc Fabregas, hit six goals past the shaky Portuguese defence.
"From now on, everything will be different," Paciencia told UEFA's official website after the defeat. "I'm sure Braga won't be that nervous again and or shirk our responsibilities like we did in this match. You can't win games with errors like that; there
were too many for a single match."
Awestruck by Arsène Wenger's side, Paciencia claimed that Arsenal is now the favourite to win the Champions League and claim their first European title.
"They are favourites to win the Champions League. We started very nervously and that made it easy for them. We have to be aware of the many bad things we did tonight, but also know we can do much, much better."
Mixed record in the Champions League
Arsenal's record in the competition would seem to contradict Paciencia's prediction. Last season, the Londoners, once again led by Fabregas, drew the Spaniard's former club Barcelona (2–2) at the Emirates before slumping to a 4–1 defeat at Camp Nou.
In 2009, Wenger's team managed to reach the semi-finals of the competition only to falter against Manchester United, losing 3–0 at home.
The closest Arsenal has ever come to securing the Champions League trophy was in 2006, Fabregas' first season as a regular in Arsenal's team, when the club reached the final but lost 2–1 after taking the lead against Barcelona.
With such a strong start against Braga, many will back Arsenal to go all the way in the competition. It should not be forgotten, though, that the team defeated Porto 5–0 in last year's round of 16 before making a prompt exit to Barcelona in the next round.
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