Fabio Capello believes Arsenal's postponed tie has given them the upper hand.
Juventus manager Fabio Capello believes that Arsenal have the upper hand ahead of the UEFA Champions League quarter final after their game with Portsmouth was called off on Saturday.The game at Fratton Park was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, giving The Gunners extra rest ahead of the visit of the Serie A leaders on Tuesday.
Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein insisted that the club were keen to play, although the Pompey camp were not happy with the decision of referee Mike Riley.
Juve's own preparations saw them draw 1-1 with Roma in a tough game on Saturday as The Bianconeri lost forward Alessandro Del Piero to a thigh injury which rules him out of the first leg at Highbury, and Capello believes the opportunity to have a weekend's rest has worked in Arsene Wenger's favour.
"I'm sorry about having had such a tough challenge ahead of the game with Arsenal, especially as they haven't played," said Capello.
"Arsenal have a slight advantage because we played and they didn't, and because we played for half of the match with only ten men."
Capello was also pleased with the performance of Patrick Vieira in the draw with Roma, with the French star preparing to return to the stadium where he enjoyed nine glory-laden years.
Vieira left The Premiership to move to Juve in the summer and Capello is backing his midfield colossus to show Wenger what he is missing on Tuesday.
"He is a very good personality so he will play a wonderful game," Capello added.
Del Piero may not have started against The Gunners anyway with Juve also boasting Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Trezeguet in their ranks, and the Italian international believes his injury will not prove to be serious.
"I don't think it's anything particularly serious," said Del Piero. "It's a shame."
