Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia had concerns after they conceded against Roma on Wednesday.

Having led 1-0 in the opening leg in London, Almunia admitted he feared the worst when Roma levelled the tie in the 10th minute through a Juan goal.

"When you are 1-0 down early on in a packed stadium, with most of the fans against you, I began to fear the worst," he said. "Roma played very aggressively in the opening half, which we knew they would.

"But we held our ground and kept fighting."

Arsenal travelled to the Italian capital confident they would get the job done in regular time but the Gunners were made to work hard to advance.

"We had the advantage going into the game although we should have won 4-0 in the opening leg," said Almunia. "We didn't prepare for this situation as we expected to go through after 90 minutes.

"I prefer not to practise penalties and just leave it to intuition.

"I just tend to look at my rival in the eyes and see how he runs before he takes the penalty and that is what I did with Mirko Vucinic."