Arsenal will take a 2-1 lead into Tuesday night's Champions League Round of 16 second leg against Barcelona and Arsene Wenger will direct his side to play as if they are winning.
The French tactician admitted that his Gunners outfit will not take a backward step at the Nou Camp as they strive to eliminate the competition favourites before the final eight.
"We will look to defend well and attack well," said Wenger. "We are not a team who will refuse to attack.
"The challenge will be to find the right balance between having a team who can defend, as well as one that has a good opportunity to go forward when it has the ball.
"Winning the first leg showed we can compete with the best. I knew that we could do it and I thought it was just a question of timing."
And Wenger said it is very important for Arsenal to respond to their critics following last season's 6-3 aggregate loss to the Catalan giants in the quarter-finals of the same competition.
"We want to show that we have made big improvements since that match in Barcelona and we have a good chance to do that," Wenger added.
"I know that this team will become stronger and stronger - but how quickly is very difficult to predict. Even if you look at the history of our team within this season, we have become stronger.
"It was very difficult to predict in October that we would be in this position now."
