Robin van Persie wants Arsenal to play Barcelona or Real Madrid

The Gunners are through to the last sixteen of the Champions League, although they are guaranteed to face a top class opponent after only making it through Group H as runner-up.

It means that Arsenal could face one of the two Spanish giants and it’s a prospect which doesn’t seem to faze Robin van Persie after the striker marked his return to the first team with the opening goal against Partizan Belgrade.

Arsene Wenger’s team made heavy weather of beating their Serbian opponents, although van Persie stated after the game that the squad believes that they can win silverware this season.

“Everything starts with belief. If you don’t have belief you’d better stop playing football.

“The pressure was on today,” Van Persie told ITV1. “They played quite well. Partizan are a good side. They kept the ball quite well. We had to run a lot.”

Asked about potential opponents in the next round, Van Persie said: “As a football fan Barcelona or (Real) Madrid but we’ll see what the draw will be.”

Arsene Wenger would surely prefer for his team to face Bayern Munich or Schalke, especially as they were taught a football lesson by Barca last season.