Wenger undaunted by tough proposition

Victory was not enough to secure the Gunners top spot in Group H of the Champions League and they are now likely to land tough opposition in the draw for the last 16 a week on Friday, but Wenger refused to rue the failure to secure inclusion among the top seeds and is confident Arsenal can topple any of the competition's big guns.

The Frenchman said: "We finished with 13 points which was good but not good enough to win the group. That promises us a very interesting last-16 game. I'm not at all disappointed that we can now draw one of the big clubs."

He added: "It's a good opportunity to prove ourselves. Two years ago we played Juventus and won. Last season we played PSV Eindhoven yet lost. It's a cup game.

"I'm highly confident we can beat anybody. I have great belief in my team and their ability to grow stronger."

Abou Diaby and Nicklas Bendtner struck to reward Arsenal's first-half dominance but they faded after the break, allowing Dorel Zaharia to slash the deficit.

Wenger was serving the touchline ban landed for his sending off against Sevilla last month, but refused to explain how he communicated during the match.

He said: "We had a good first half and overall our game was well organised. Our combination play was good. We were not clinical enough to finish what we created but overall I was happy.

"In the second half our game dropped and from what I could see from upstairs that was for physical reasons.

"The main reason for that was we had players like Robin van Persie, Diaby and Alexandre Song back from injury."