Well today the draw for the Champions League was made and the round of 16 fixtures were confirmed as follows:

Manchester City v Barcelona
Bayer Leverkusen v Paris Saint Germain
Arsenal v Bayern Munich
AC Milan v Atletico Madrid
Olympiakos v Manchester United
Zenit St Petersburg v Borussia Dortmund
Galatasaray v Chelsea
Schalke v Real Madrid

There are some truly mouth-watering ties in their, including of course Arsenal v Bayern Munich.

There was a lot of negativity surrounding Arsenal’s qualification from the group stage, with a lot of Arsenal fans miffed that we didn’t have a more disciplined approach, which would have been required to get at least a draw in Naples. Because of the lack of ambition on the night (or tiredness in the squad) we didn’t have enough not to lose. Because of that, we finished second in the group and looking at the draw now, could have faced Zenit St Petersburg and had a reunion with Andrei Arshavin.

As it stands, we face current European Champions Bayern Munich, who are still the best team in Europe for many people, including myself. I would have much preferred a tie against Barcelona, Real Madrid or Paris Saint Germain.

But if you’re going to be philosophical about it, this is the Champions League (not the Europa League) and this is the place where the truly best teams are. The massive games are the games we wait for and it’s a cliche, but if you want to win it you have the play the best teams eventually (unless you’re AVB winning the Europa League with Porto).

Even if Arsenal do get knocked out to Bayern, at least we can say that we have had a very good European campaign. In the group stages we’ve had to face Napoli, Marseille and Dortmund, and now Bayern. In there alone there are 6 blockbuster fixtures we’ve been involved in.

Whereas when you look at Manchester United and Chelsea, their campaigns have been boring and lets be honest, a bit of a joke. They’ve faced teams such as Olympiakos, Galatasaray, Bayer Leverkusen, Shakhtar Donetsk, Real Sociedad, Schalke, Basel and Steaua Bucuresti. You can hardly claim they had and “blockbuster” ties that people were flocking to watch. In fact you would probably have a difficult time finding anyone bothered to watch those games unless they were United or Chelsea supporters.

Yesterday we lost 6-3 to Manchester City, and since then Arsenal fans have been panicking, saying that Arsenal are on a downward spiral. People will say we can’t beat the top sides and that we are going to fade over the next few months.

However, I would err on the side of caution before writing Arsenal off, and below are 5 perfectly reasonable reasons why we lost how we did against Manchester City, and why we shouldn’t quite panic just yet.

1. Manchester City are “Invincible” at home

Manchester City have spend the most money it shows in the quality of the squad. At The Etihad Stadium, they have already beaten Tottenham Hotspur 6-0, Norwich City 7-0, Newcastle United 4-0, Manchester United 4-1 and Everton 3-1. At home, they are ruthless and unstoppable – and have some of the best attacking players in the league. Aguero is world class, Negredo is an excellent player and they have players like Jesus Navas, Samir Nasri, David Silva and Yaya Toure would have assists and goals in their locker as well.

But the season is based on you performance, home and away, over 38 games. Manchester City look phenomenal at home but so far we have both played 16 games and we’re still 3 points clear of them. We have a chance to level the score at The Emirates in March, and while we suffered a heavy defeat, any win (even 1-0) would make things even.

2. Arsenal had less time to rest

We had to travel to Naples and had a tough game against a side that wanted to progress to the knockout stages. Manchester City meanwhile, played a day earlier against a team who had already qualified. We didn’t get a chance to train before travelling to Manchester and City came back from Europe with a home fixture. These things make a difference, and if yesterdays game was at The Emirates, then you can bet it was a different game.

3. Arsenal are “not negative enough”

If Arsene Wenger has a weakness it’s that in every game (Napoli aside), he will try and play for the win.

Any other manager yesterday would have played Arteta and Flamini in the middle and tried to keep the game tight. We’ve already seen Jose Mourinho, against a weaker United side at Old Trafford, park the bus this season. We knew that Manchester City would play attacking football in their own back yard and instead of playing a tight game like we did in Dortmund, we went toe-to-toe with City and tried to score goals.

We scored 3 goals at The Etihad Stadium and the only other side to do the same this season was Bayern Munich. We allowed the game to be wide open with our approach and you can’t deny that the goals we conceded were sloppy. Unfortunately the potential to increase our lead at the top of the league was too tempting for Arsene to pass up and we ended up going into the game with the wrong approach.

4. It was a bad day at the office

There was no doubt that the performance from some of the players was below par but over the 16 games in the Premier League and the 6 games in Europe, overall, we’ve been excellent. We played poorly against Aston Villa, Manchester United and Manchester City and lost. But that only gives us 3 defeats in the league so far and that’s the same amount as Chelsea and Liverpool, and less than Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham. Hotspur. The only team to have fewer defeats is Everton, although we are still 4 points clear of them.

5. We were unlucky and didn’t get any decisions from the referee

If you are going to get any kind of result against Manchester City away, then you need a couple of decisions go your way and it’s safe to say we got absolutely nothing yesterday. Nicklas Bendtner and Olivier Giroud had goals disallowed for offsides that never were, we had a lot of harsh decisions go against us and when it came to taking chances, we just couldn’t go it. Olivier Giroud had a golden chance to score from a fantastic Bacary Sagna cross but he flashed his header wide of the post. Of course, City had chances they didn’t take as well but with a bit more luck, we could have scored more and conceded less.

There is no doubt that this season, Arsenal have been outstanding. It is a testament to the performances of the squad to date, and most of the playing staff have been excellent this season. We have Szczesny who has been, for me, the best goalkeeper in the Premier League, and Mertesacker and Koscielny who have been outstanding in central defence. Gibbs has been excellent, as has Monreal when he’s been called upon. Sagna is firmly established as one of the most solid right-backs in the league, and Carl Jenkinson has done well when he’s been asked to come in. The young right-back still has a lot to learn but isn’t playing as badly as people have been making out.

In midfield, we have such a great range of options. In the “defensive midfield” position, we have Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini, both accomplished professionals and players, who always give 110% and lead by example. In their own ways, they are leaders on the pitch.

In the more attacking roles, we have Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky, Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Özil, as well as About Diaby and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain when they return from injury.

Up front we are relying heavily on Olivier Giroud. Lukas Podolski is still out injured but like Theo, is more suited to coming in from the wide positions.

Despite our perceived strength and depth this season, recent performances have suggested that Arsenal are getting tired. That is not a criticism, but a reflection on our success this season and the quality of opponent we’ve had to face so far. Unlike Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham, we’ve had to face teams of the calibre of Borussia Dortmund, Napoli and Marseille in Europe. We’ve also had to play Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham in the domestic competitions already – and have Manchester City and Chelsea again in the coming weeks.

And if that wasn’t hard enough, then our “reward” for amazingly getting out of the “Group of Death” in the Champions League is to face one of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletico Madrid, Bayern Munich or Paris Saint Germain.

So as the squad is getting stretched and the games are coming thick and fast, the difficulty of the matches is getting harder as well. And with the level of performance dropping in recent weeks, and Christmas just around the corner, I think it is vital that Arsene dips into the January transfer window and strengthens the squad.

It doesn’t have to be a blockbuster signing, or a signing that costs £50 million. We saw when Jose Antonio Reyes arrived in the January of 2004, that an injection of quality can get us over the line. Mesut Özil did it for us in the summer, and the fact is we will need it this January.

If we finish the 2013-2014 campaign something like 5 points off the top after a lethargic finish to the season, then we really will be kicking ourselves for not spending in the transfer window.

So the big question is who do we buy?

With Theo Walcott back and Lukas Podolski on the way back, people will say the striker position is well-catered for but I disagree. I’d class them more as “wingers” and I don’t think they’re capable of playing the lone striker role for any real amount of time. They could probably fill in for 4 or 5 games but if Giroud gets injured then we’d have real problems.

So for me, a decent striker would be top of the list in January. They don’t have to be the quality of Luis Suarez for instance, but someone decent. Nicklas Bendtner is not in that category and is not the man we should depend on if Giroud is unavailable. And the fact of the matter is, Giroud looks tired and if we want to get the best out of him for the remainder of the season, then he needs to be rested every few weeks. He is a player that gives 110% every single game and at this rate he is going to be out of gas by Christmas.

So what do you think? Do you agree that we’re running out of steam and need reinforcements in January?

Or do you think we’re fine as we are? Leave your comments below.

Regular readers will know that I’m not a fan of Alan Shearer. His views this season that he doesn’t believe Arsenal are genuine title contenders is something that has annoyed me and he has the personality of a brick wall. However, for possibly the first time ever, I finally agree with him on something.

He’s come out and said that there should be “zero tolerance” when it comes to match-fixing, and I completely agree.

Match-fixing goes on everywhere and we’ve already seen and heard about high-profile cases in Italy, Germany, Brazil, China, Hungary, Turkey, Finland and South Africa but to name a few.

The problem is, football betting has become so comprehensive now it’s untrue. Whether you think gambling is wrong is another issue, and I will admit I’ve put a bet on or two in the past. But what is crazy now is that you can get on absolutely anything on a single football match – whenever I put a bet on it will be for the final score or first goalscorer, but now you can bet on who gets a yellow card, how many corners there are, the list is endless.

And with this, are more ways to make a quick buck by picking up a yellow card or giving away a freekick. The main reason for match-fixing is greed on part of the players, and the ability to make quick and easy money. In a game which is already flooded with money, in a way I suppose it was inevitable that match-fixing would come to England.

There are a lot of issues to consider – the ethics of gambling itself and what should the authorities do if they find players guilty of participating in match fixing. Gambling will never go away as it’s big business, and with the relaxed laws you see gambling adverts in between (as well as before and after) any televised football match.

But back to the specific problem, and Alan Shearer is right about having a “zero tolerance” policy. Any player found guilty of taking part in match-fixing should be banned from football for life, across the world.

The only way to deter players from being stupid and taking part in something which ruins the integrity of the game is to threaten them with their livelihood. At the moment, there are no real consequences (Bruce Grobbelaar and Hans Segers got off lightly) and players would think twice before jeopardising their whole career for a quick buck.

You would have to think that if the players who have been arrested are found guilty, then they would need to be made examples of.