Milan to provide Arsenal with ultimate test, says Wenger

By Mike Collett

LONDON COLNEY, England (Reuters) - Arsenal's young side face the ultimate test against European champions AC Milan on Wednesday but manager Arsene Wenger believes they can beat them and reach the Champions League quarter-finals.

"We are playing against a very experienced side and it is going to be very tight." he said. "For me, it is most important that we play without any handbrake... we go into the game not calculating too much, to let our youthful quality show.

"We are a young team, but we can challenge them -- and beat them," the Frenchman told a news conference on Tuesday ahead of the first knockout round, first leg tie at Emirates Stadium.

Wenger, who takes charge of his 100th Champions League match with Arsenal including qualifying games, said he and his players were hurt by their 4-0 loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup on Saturday but put that down to "a bad day at the office".

He added: "We were a bit quiet in training yesterday, we were very disappointed about Saturday, but we are totally focused on Milan.

"Sometimes you forget how good you are when you have a big disappointment, and we still have two huge targets in front of us -- the Premier League and the Champions League.

"Although that might not be all you want left in February, they are our targets now and it will come down to our quality."

"But we face the ultimate test on Wednesday because we are in the position of challengers and Milan are the European champions ... they have quality, experience.