Category Archives: Champions League

Why Arsenal will struggling badly in the Champions League this season

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Everyone is excited about Arsenal’s first Champions League game since 2017, after 6 long years in the wilderness.

The Champions League is where it’s at, where all the best teams in the world are playing. Being stuck in the Europa League, and watching from the sidelines has been tough.

But after an outstanding season in the 2022/2023 season, we’re finally back.

And while the excitement is understandable, many Arsenal fans have got carried away with how we’ll do in the competition this season. Some Arsenal experts have said we’ll reach the Quarter Finals, others have said we’ll even make the Semi Finals.

But that is just delusional.

Mikel Arteta has done a phenomenal job at putting Arsenal back on the map. But that’s been in the Premier League. European football is a completely different ball game (pun intended) and how you perform at domestic level has no bearing on how you do in Europe.

Look at the great Arsenal teams that have played in the Champions League. We had the Double Winning 1997-1998 team, who failed to progress passed the group stage the following season. The outstanding 2001-2002 team failed to get passed the second group stage, and they again won the Double that season.

And then how about the immortal Invincibles team? They only managed to get to the Quarter Finals that year.

So to say we’ll get to the Quarter Finals or Semi Finals is quite frankly, insane.

And the we come to winners of the competition. You’ve got Manchester City, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Liverpool taking up the bulk of winners in the last 10 years, and bar Manchester City, all of those teams have history of winning the competition.

And look at the Europa League – previous winners include Sevilla, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United. Those are teams that aren’t exactly tearing it up in their domestic leagues, but they have European knowhow and experience.

We all know certain teams like Sevilla just have a knack for winning games in Europa, it’s in their DNA.

Arsenal have been in the Europa League for the past few years and their previous performances have been knocked out at the Round of 16, Semi Finals and the Round of 32 – hardly outstanding European pedigree.

And Mikel Arteta has limited experience in managing a team in Europe, which is another steep learning curve. He’s doing great things in the Premier League right now, but it still took time for him to reach that level – everything takes time.

So whilst it is amazing Arsenal are back where they belong, patience is needed. We might do well in Europe, but that won’t be this season – especially considering that we are fighting for the Premier League as well.

So sit back, enjoy the ride and let’s see how far we go in the Champions League, but don’t be disappointed when it’s not that far. That time is yet to come.

 

Why the reaction to the new European Super League is well over the top!

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The reaction to the formation of the new European Super League has been quite astounding, really.

Every man and their dog has expressed outrage – ex-players, pundits, bloggers, supporters, radio stations, fans groups… the list goes on. But it strikes me that people are being outraged without understanding what is actually happening.

Which is some of Europe’s biggest teams have decided to start their own competition. That’s literally it.

They haven’t said they would leave their domestic leagues (in our case the Premier League) so what’s the problem? That Arsenal might not participate in the FA Cup? Well that hasn’t been decided yet has it? People are completely freaking out for no reason!

This is a model Arsene Wenger said 11 years ago that would happen “within 10 years”, and as usually Arsene was pretty much on the money.

The argument about greed is just laughable. The boat sailed a long time ago, back in 1992 when the Premier League was formed. Did anyone care about the negative affect it would have on lower leagues? No. Did they care that the extra money used to buy foreign talent would stifle our English youth? No. The hypocrisy is real.

The bottom line is the Premier League and UEFA let this happen with the way they behaved, and a European Super League should be no surprise – Arsene Wenger knew this would happen over a decade ago!

The Premier League let clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City have owners that had questionable backgrounds come in and splash obscene amounts of money so that they could get the best players and increase the viewership worldwide. You realise the PL make insane money from worldwide TV rights don’t you?

And UEFA? They pretended to implemented FFP (Financial Fair Play) but let the richest clubs (Manchester City, PSG, etc.) break these rules time and time again without punishment.

Why? Because UEFA are corrupt and again, all they want is the best players so they have the highest viewing figures possible.

This is something which has been on the cards for a long long time, and the hypocrisy and outrage from these so called pundits is laughable.

 

Arsene Wenger predicted this would happen… and why the Premier League & UEFA are to blame!

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The overreaction to the formation of the European Super League is absolutely ridiculous. It’s similar to the hysteria about Brexit and scaring people into leaving the EU.

It’s a model used all over the sporting world. People need to stop being so naive – Arsene Wenger said 10 years ago that there would be a European Super League by 2022.

The argument about greed is utterly moronic. That boat sailed a long time ago with the start of the Premier League, and it set back lower league sides for decades while making PL sides richer and richer.

And Arsene predicted that this would happen directly because of the behaviour or the Premier League and UEFA.

The Premier League let clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City have owners that had questionable backgrounds come in and splash obscene amounts of money so that they could get the best players and increase the viewership worldwide. You realise the PL make insane money from worldwide TV rights don’t you?

And UEFA? They pretended to implemented FFP (Financial Fair Play) but let the richest clubs (Manchester City, PSG, etc.) break these rules time and time again without punishment.

Why? Because UEFA are corrupt and again, all they want is the best players so they have the highest viewing figures possible.

This is something which has been on the cards for a long long time, and the hypocrisy and outrage from these so called pundits is laughable.

Ever since the Premier League was formed in 1992 all football has ever been about is money. So why are people shocked when years later, a money driven decision is made by the top clubs.

You reap what you sow and this is the result.

 

Greatest Comebacks in Champions League History

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The Champions League is seen by all fans around the world as the absolute pinnacle of football, even considered higher, by many, than international football. The best clubs from all around Europe pit themselves against each other in the ultimate tournament to see who comes out on tip. Sometimes there are upsets where the leading team in the world gets stuffed by a minnow but other times, the unexpected threatens to happen but the losing team find a way to defy the odds and come back. With this in mind we decided to list what we consider to be the greatest comebacks in the history of the Champions League. (not in order of greatness).

Deportivo La Coruna vs. AC Milan, 2004 – (Losing 4-1) Won 5-4

No doubt about this one being one of the most outrageous comebacks the CL has ever seen, trailing 4-1 from the first leg quarter final against the holders A.C Milan, Deportivo La Coruna fired back to win 5-4 on aggregate and meet F.C. Porto in the Semi’s. Beautifully orchestrated from midfield by the one and only Juan Carlos Valeron the Galicians hit the team from Italy with both barrels going 3 goals up in the first half thanks to Valeron, Pandiani and Luque, wiping out Milan’s first leg advantage. With 13 minutes remaining RCD club captain Fran struck a volley sweetly and it nestled in the back of the net to cement this comeback as one of the best ever probably paying out ridiculous amounts on football bets all over Europe.

Liverpool vs. AC Milan, 2005 – (Losing 3-0) Levelled to 3-3 & Won on penalties

No list of the greatest Champions League comebacks is complete without this one, The Miracle of Istanbul. A.C. Milan, with a star studded squad including Pirlo, Kaka, Shevchenko et all were leading 3-0 at half time and on their way to European Triumph, only, nobody thought to tell Liverpool that I was done and dusted. The reds flew out of the traps at half time and set about reducing the deficit, club captain Steven Gerrard notching the first, Smicer adding the second 2 minutes later and Xabi Alonso completing the unlikely comeback a further 5 minutes after. After both teams battled to come out on top throughout regulation and extra time, the game went to penalties. Liverpool triumphed from the spot marking this game as one of the most talked about in the history of football.

Barcelona vs. Paris Saint-Germain, 2017 (Losing 4-0) Won 6-5

The most recent on this list and seemingly, one of the most unlikely given the score line, Barca trailed PSG 4-0 from the first leg of the Champions League last 16 and seemed to be down and out, especially when even after Barca pulled 3 goals back, Cavani scored for PSG to give them the edge on away goals. It was 5-3 to PSG when in the 88th minute Neymar curled in a pearler of a free kick, and just 2 minutes later was hauled down for a penalty and dully tucked it away. With the scores at 5-5 PSG still went through on away goals but in the 95th minute stand-in right back Sergi Roberto for Barcelona popped up in the most unlikely of positions and managed to score. Camp Nou erupted as did much of the football watching world to the biggest comeback of the last decade.

Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich, 1999 (Losing 1-0) Won 2-1

As they were prior to Alex Ferguson’s arrival, Manchester United are forever in Liverpool’s shadow in the comeback stakes with everyone remembering the Miracle in Istanbul and not many ever mentioning this game. United were second best for much of the contest after Bayern took an early lead through Mario Basler. It took until the 91st minute for United to equalise through Teddy Sheringham and level the tie. With golden goal extra time looming, uniteds late goal specialist Ole Gunnar Solskjaer popped up and scored in the 93rd minute to send the Red Devil’s fans into a rampage and claim the UEFA Champions League.

Chelsea vs. Napoli, 2012

Another often overlooked achievement is when the terrible looking Chelsea of 2012 managed to scrape themselves a UEFA Champions League Trophy. The team was serious struggling but managed to win the entire tournament and there’s no doubt that this game was the catalyst. After losing the first leg 3-1 many thought it was all over for the Blues but even after Napolie scored again, Chelsea managed to level it up at 4-4 and take it to extra time with goals from Lampard, Terry and Drogba. Salvation came in the form of Branislav Ivanovic who scored in extra time to send Chelsea through and on their way to win the whole thing!

 

Why Finishing 5th Could Be A Massive Blessing For Arsenal

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So Arsenal finished the season in 5th. Now the dust has settled, does it matter?

I do find it amusing that it is widely accepted that Arsenal have had an awful season. Yet despite having a “disastrous” season, we were in touching distance of Manchester City and Liverpool for the Champions League spots. If we were in crisis, then how about those two North West clubs?

Yes, between January and April we have been awful and yet we finished 5th. People need to get a grip – seriously, after a “disastrous” season most teams get relegated.

For me 5th doesn’t matter and in the cold light of day, is a blessing.

The Europa League is a joke. The sooner we agree on that the better. It’s a poorly organised competition and playing on Thursday nights is a massive burden on a Premier League season. We have two choices; take it seriously or use the kids.

For me it’s a no brainer. Play the kids. First of all it would be a great experience for them, and secondly they could do well in it. If you listen to Jose Mourinho, the repeatedly goes on and on about how much of a pain the competition is, despite wanting to win it so they get Champions League football next season.

But the message it clear – far too many additional fixtures, played on a day which severely interferes with the domestic calendar. If you want to win it then fine, but the road to success can cause major problems, and even then you’re not guaranteed to win it.

If we treat it like a European “League Cup” and play the youngsters, then we’d only have the Premier League and FA Cup to concentrate on. The Champions League has been a distraction in many ways, and a problematic one considering we don’t get further than the last 16 anyway. Why not focus on the Premier League instead? This gives us the perfect excuse.

Look at Chelsea this season. No Champions League football and they win the league. And Leicester City the season before. No Champions League football, and they win the league.

Simplistic perhaps, but if we had a real chance at actually competing for the Premier League, it would be next season.