Manchester United? Arsenal's kids fear no team

Arsenal have today elevated themselves from the fourth best team in the Premier League to arguably the most unpredictable and dangerous of the quartet left in Europe's elite competition.

Bookmakers may have the Gunners at around 4-1 outsiders to lift the Champions League in Rome next month but semi-final opponents Manchester United are far from the invincible outfit they were earlier in the campaign and no other team has the rip-roaring momentum to compare with that which now carries Arsene Wenger's side.

It is true that Villarreal were a huge disappointment at Emirates Stadium showing virtually none of the attacking endeavour that had threatened to overrun the Gunners in Spain last week.

But the sheer swaggering ease with which Arsenal strode to victory, despite missing four of their first-choice back five and with Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas still to find their match sharpness, suggests the best is yet to come.

Self belief has been at a premium in this part of north London at times this season but the confidence fostered by an 18-game unbeaten League run has transferred on to the European stage, where the transformation is such that this young side need not fear United or anyone else for that matter.

"I never doubted this team but when you don't win the game you wonder if you are right," admitted Wenger of a side which only scored three goals in the league during the first two months of this year.

"I was always convinced about their quality but I was more worried about the confidence and the belief of a very young side.

"It is mentally very difficult when they do not win the games because it's a bit more fragile than guys who have a big history behind them and have already gone through difficult periods.

"We have confidence and that is down to the slow progress we have accumulated from game to game in the Premier League."

While the authoritative manner of victory belied the relative inexperience of a side so young, they were no doubt aided by Villarreal's bafflingly negative approach and the absence of influential captain Marcos Senna through injury.

By choosing to leave strikers Nihat Kahveci and Joseba Llorente on the bench in favour of a lone forward in Giuseppe Rossi, manager Manuel
Pellegrini never gave his side a chance. Rossi is a gifted player but at 5ft 8in, he could only compete for aerial balls like a child trying in vein to reach the top shelf in a newsagents and simply failed to make the ball stick as a target man.

Arsenal's makeshift defence —bereft of goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and defenders, Bacary Sagna, who was unwell prior to kick-off, William Gallas, Johan Djourou and Gael Clichy — could barely believe their luck.

But as it was, Theo Walcott took advantage of some awful defending to dink a delightful finish over goalkeeper Diego Lopez, before Gonzalo Rodriguez was sucked towards the ball to allow Robin van Persie to find Emmanuel Adebayor, who stabbed a shot expertly into the far corner to kill the tie — though there was still time for Van Persie to add to the tally with a penalty.

"I would first like to enjoy qualification," said Wenger when asked about the test his side face in the semi-finals. "The history always has a little part to play. We are in a cup competition now over 180 minutes and what is important is the form of the day.

"Both teams produce always very exciting games. Both teams like to go forward so it will be a promising semi-final. We are up for the challenge and it will be very interesting."

It seems laughable now to think that a certain section of the supporters called for Wenger's head earlier in the season. A TV shot near the final whistle showed Wenger neatly stood underneath a board that simply read: RESPECT.

After a season that threatened to implode but now promises so much, that picture just about summed it up.