Partizan victory vital for Arsenal
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Arsenal's hopes of ending its six-year trophy drought could be determined in less than a week, starting with its final Champions League group H match against makeweight Partizan Belgrade at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
The Gunners, beaten in their last two European matches, must defeat a Partizan side that has lost all five of its group fixtures if they are to be certain of a place in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Otherwise Arsenal, three points behind leader Shaktar Donetsk and level with Sporting Braga, could miss out if the result of the tie between its two rivals in Ukraine on Wednesday goes against it.
Back on the home front, Premier League leader Arsenal faces fellow Manchester United, just a point behind, at Old Trafford on Monday.
Win both those games and Arsenal can look forward to a season of significant achievement; lose both and Gunners manager Arsene Wenger's repeated promises of a bright future for his side will start to sound decidedly hollow.
Arsenal and France full-back Bacary Sagna insists the side are well aware of the need to turn potential into performance.
"We do not want the season to be over at the end of December," said Sagna.
"It's about time we won the big games. Against Chelsea we dropped points, at home we have dropped so many points. At United, we want to play our game and win.
"Going top of the (Premier) League was great on Saturday. But we need to be more focused. We have to keep moving forward."
Arsenal has experienced defensive problems this season be it injury to center-back Thomas Vermaelen, out since September and not expected back until the new year at the earliest, or uncertainty as to whether either Manuel Almunia or Lukasz Fabianski is their best goalkeeper.
But the absence of injured playmaker Cesc Fabregas has not proved as damaging as first feared, with Frenchman Samir Nasri shining in the Spanish star's absence.
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