Micah Richards believes Arsenal would ‘batter’ Barcelona if they met in the Champions League semi-final.

Mikel Arteta’s side secured their place in the Champions League quarter-final with a 3-1 aggregate win against Bayer Leverkusen last month and they will now face Sporting CP in the first leg on Tuesday night.

If Arsenal beat the Portuguese side, they will then play either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid for a place in the Champions League final on May 30.

Barcelona produced a brilliant second-half display to seal a 7-2 win against Newcastle United in the second leg of their Round of 16 clash but Richards claims the La Liga leaders would be convincingly beaten by Arsenal if they played the same high defensive line.

‘When you look at the Premier League, Man City have been off, we’ve talked about Chelsea and Liverpool, Man United are coming back stronger now, this is an opportunity for them [Arsenal] to capitalise on two big trophies,’ Richards told The Rest Is Football.

‘I look at the Champions League and the way Arsenal play defensively, I said it a couple of weeks ago, they can win it, they would be one of my favourites, they have a...