Barcelona striker David Villa is convinced his side will beat Arsenal to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League next month despite last week's 2-1 defeat in north London.
Villa gave a dominant Barca side the lead in the first leg at the Emirates last Wednesday, only to see Arsenal hit back to claim what had looked an improbable victory through second-half goals from Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin. Barca will need to overturn that deficit to seal progress at the Nou Camp on March 8.
And Villa said: "I think that if we do things like we did in London, we will be on the right track. We will go through to the next round, I'm sure, because we were far superior in everything except for the result (at the Emirates)."
Villa and his team-mates missed a host of clear-cut chances in London, though, and the Spain forward knows passage to the quarter-finals will depend on their shooting accuracy in the second leg.
"We need to perform better in front of goal," he said. "If we do that we will go through."
The second meeting with Arsenal has been given extra spice by the Gunners' controversial signing of 16-year-old Barca midfielder Jon Toral this week.
That move has angered the Catalans, who remain unhappy about Arsenal's capture of their former youth player Cesc Fabregas in a similar deal back in 2003.
Villa, though, says none of that is on the Barca players' minds at the moment.
"We are thinking about Mallorca (this weekend's Primera Division opponents) - that's what we're concerned with right now," he said.
"The rest, for the moment, is still far away. The Arsenal match is a very important match that we have to prepare for, but before Arsenal we have others and right now, the nerves, the worries and the desire to play are centred on the game against Mallorca."
Source: PA
