IT MAY seem premature to talk about winning the Champions League after a single group-stage victory, but having reached the final last season, Arsène Wenger is confident Arsenal can go one better next year. The Frenchman is still seething at the manner of his side’s 2-1 defeat by Barcelona at the Stade de France and plans to harness the hurt to take them all the way to Athens in May.

“We want to justify what we did last year and it’s an added incentive to go back and win the trophy,” Wenger said. “The frustration is so big inside us that we want to come back and win it. We passed the ball well tonight and showed a good technical level.”

Having complained long and loud about Jens Lehmann’s sending-off in Paris, it is ironic that Arsenal should benefit from a similarly contentious decision on their return to the competition proper, though Wenger showed sympathy for Sascha Kirschstein, sent off in the tenth minute for a professional foul on Robin van Persie.

“What happened to us in the final happened to them and I feel sorry for them,” Wenger said. “It looked to be a penalty but I haven’t seen a replay. A red card was harsh, because in the box you have to show understanding for the keeper. A yellow card would have done.”

Thomas Doll saw the matter differently, accusing Van Persie of going down deliberately after over-running the ball. “I do not understand how the referee could give a penalty and red-card our goalkeeper on top of it,” the SV Hamburg coach said. “I don’t think we would have lost this game with 11 players. Van Persie realised he couldn’t score so he stood on the goalkeeper’s hand.”

If Gilberto Silva’s penalty was contentious, there was no debate about Tomas Rosicky’s stunning second, with Wenger praising the Czech Republic international’s contribution. “I felt he needed the game,” Wenger said. “He has shown that he can be very influential in our team.”

Wenger’s only concern is a hip injury to Kolo Touré, which could rule him out of Sunday’s match away to Manchester United. “He has some muscular damage and I don’t know if he will play on Sunday,” Wenger said.