Wenger lauds Arsenal youngsters

Arsenal FC manager Arsène Wenger was understandably buoyant after watching his team book a place in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals for the first time after securing a 2-0 aggregate triumph against Juventus. Goals in the first leg from Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry proved sufficient as the Premiership outfit's defence held firm for a record-breaking eighth successive game without conceding a goal. Pavel Nedvěd's second-half dismissal certainly helped Arsenal's cause, but Wenger had special praise for his young defence.

Arsène Wenger, Arsenal manager
I'm delighted for the club. In the past few years we have been considered favourites but never reached this point. This season nobody expected us to get to the semi-finals and we are there. We have defeated the likes of Real Madrid [CF] and Juventus and now we have a big appetite to win the Champions League. We controlled the game really well and as long as Juve didn't score, everything was fine. They are not at the top of their game – we are. Our aim was always to protect our lead and we did. Then, when Nedvěd was sent off, the game was over. We even had two good chances to kill the game but failed to convert, but although it's always a bit frustrating when you don't score, I'm delighted with the performance of my young defence as they have not conceded against Juve or Madrid.

Fabio Capello, Juventus coach
If Arsenal continue in this form, it'll be difficult for anybody to beat them. At the end of the game all I could do was congratulate my players because they did really well against a team on top form. The simple equation is that they scored two goals, we didn't score at all – they were better than us. It was a really difficult game. Both teams played aggressively and with the right attitude. Arsenal were dangerous on the break but in the second half we created changes but unfortunately couldn't score. Now we must accept defeat.