Olivier Giroud has lamented Arsenal’s misfortune in drawing Barcelona in the Champions League round of 16.
The Gunners scraped through the group stage with a dramatic victory over Olympiacos in matchday six, but in finishing second in their pool they were left susceptible to drawing one of Europe’s superpowers.
And Giroud believes that, while they rode their luck a little to qualify, Arsenal were unfortunate when it came to the draw.
“We’re a little like the black cats of the Champions League,” he told L’Equipe.
“We’ve drawn the best team in the world currently, the one that no-one wanted to come up against.
“I saw a montage with the head of Arsene Wenger on the body of [Mario] Balotelli, who was wearing a T-shirt on which could be read: ‘Why always me?’”
The France international is expecting a tough encounter against the in-form Catalans.
“We expect to run a lot and suffer a great deal,” he admitted. “It’s the first time that I will have played them, and it’s a tremendously exciting challenge. The two teams have similar philosophies of play: possession of the ball and quick passing.
“We must not scupper our chances in the first leg like we've had a habit of doing in the past.”
Meanwhile, the forward praised the form of Barcelona’s attacking trident of Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi.
“They get along marvellously, are very complementary and can find each other with their eyes closed. The most impressive thing is that they can beat any defence. What they're doing is perhaps the best in the entire world,” he added.
Arsenal’s quest to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in six seasons by overcoming Barca begins at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening.
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