The Soccer Blog: Champions League Draw: Guess Who?

Friday, 17 December 2010

Champions League Draw: Guess Who?

By: Martin | December 17th, 2010

Well, after several years of getting lucky in Champions League draw, it seems like our gambler’s luck has caught up to us. It always does. For the second consecutive draw, we draw FC Barcelona.

Let me just honestly say I’m not too upset about this. Yes, I would have preferred any of the other 3 teams we could have drawn. No, I don’t think we are going to get past Barca, and our streak of getting to the quarterfinal every year since 2007, when we lost to PSV Eindhoven.

Barcelona, of course, demolished us last year. The 2-2 scoreline in the first-leg flattered us quite a bit and was pretty much solely down to some great goalkeeping by Manuel Almunia and a “turn the game on its head” performance as a late sub by Theo Walcott. Then Leo Messi put on a show against us in the return leg. As Sid Lowe said on the Guardian Football Weekly this past week, there is a pretty good argument to be made that this Barcelona team is the best club team in the modern era. But anything can happen. This competition always produces some surprises — why not us? They’ll be overconfident, everyone is expecting them to absolutely crush us, and we have nothing to lose. Is it inconceivable that guys like Cesc, Nasri, and van Persie could get healthy and play the game of their lives and help us do the improbable?

But even if we do lose, I’m not too bothered. I’ll just say that I think there is some merit to the contention (put forth by Alan Davies and others) that if you’re not going to make it to the final of this competition, you might as well get knocked out early on in the knockout rounds. The difference in television revenue/prize money isn’t that significant once you get out of the group stages, and the difference in UEFA coefficient is pretty negligable once you get out of the group stages. And with us competing in 3 other competitions, getting knocked out at this stage gives us 2 or 4 more midweek breaks than some of our biggest domestic rivals. I understand I’m stretching a bit to see the positive here, but if we’re not going to win it, let’s just get it over with and focus on winning the league and the domestic cups. We know all too well the toll that picking up niggling injuries, fatigue, and having to rotate the squad has on a season.

But the bottom line is this is the worst-case scenario, and we’re paying the price for our complacency against Shakhtar and Braga. We knew this could happen, and it did. And while I maintain that if the referee had made the right call on the Vela penalty that wasn’t we would not be in this position, we never should have left it in a referee’s hands. I would say that maybe this has taught Arsenal and Wenger a lesson, but I’m not sure we’ve learned anything from anything that’s happened in the last decade, so probably not.

And, of course, the worst part of this story for me personally is that it is really going to mean a ramping up of the tedious saga of last summer. Cesc and Pique and Puyol will undoubtedly be tweeting about sleepovers and what not, and the media will be asking Cesc about Barca, and Barca players about Cesc. Things will be said, Arsenal fans will get mad, Barca fans will get mad at Arsenal fans, blah blah blah, you know the drill. It’s so predictable, and the thought of it makes my stomach turn a bit, I have to say.

So…it’s Barca. First leg at home on February 16, second leg away on March 8. Spurs drew AC Milan, Man United drew Marseille, and Chelsea drew Copenhagen. Shakhtar drew Roma, which would have been a decent draw for us had we taken care of business and won the group, Bayern and Inter have a rematch of last year’s final, Valencia and Schalke; and Real Madrid and Lyon round out the draw. So there you go.

Also, I know I mentioned it in the comments section and plugged it on Twitter, but I wrote a piece for the main page on Porto manager Andre Villas-Boas that you may be interested in.

Finally, a big shout out to Sairax, who woke up very, very early in the morning to provide live coverage of this draw, and was great on Twitter, but wasn’t able to get on to post anything about it here due to crappy servers. Get some sleep, Sairax. (UPDATE: So Sairax wrote up an entire post that she didn’t get to publish, so it’s your lucky day — you get a double-take on this from each of us. Her post is reprinted in its entirety below.)

We all knew this was going to happen right? Arsenal have drawn Barcelona. A lot of people have said, we might as well draw a hard team early. That way, we either are out early and can focus on the league, or we have the toughest team out of the way and push hard for the final. It’s one way to look at it I guess.
　
Another way to look at it is that we totally screwed ourselves. We didn’t win those 2 away matches after we blazed through our opening 3 games and now we are faced with the best team in Europe. A team that we have met 5 times in the Champions League and have yet to beat. You may remember last season when we met them in the quarterfinals. We drew them 2-2 at the Emirates and lost 4-1 at Camp Nou. I am only omitting the horrible details because I do not wish to relive that tie. There was also the 2006 final when Jens Lehmann got sent off and we ended up losing 2-1. Ah, the memories.
　
As you can guess, Barcelona are doing quite well this season. They are currently 1st in La Liga. They have lost only one match all season. That was at home against the newly promoted Hercules. Don’t ask me how that happened. They most recently thrashed Real Sociedad 5-0 and gave a footballing masterclass to Real Madrid, hammering them 5-0 at Camp Nou. In the Champions League they came out on top of their group unbeaten, winning 4 and drawing 2. They tend to draw many of their away legs if that’s any consolation, but they also are an absolute fortress at home. Rubin Kazan was shaping up to be their bogey team, but the youngsters of Barcelona finally overcame them in the last group stage match 2-0.
　
The last time we met Barcelona, we were lucky enough to see King Henry come back home to London. He has since moved on, but there are plenty of big hitters on this current Barcelona team. Puyol, Xavi, Pique, Valdes, Alves, Keita, Abidal, and Iniesta are all familiar faces. This season they added David Villa to their strikeforce. He joined Barcelona in the summer from Valencia while Zlatan Ibrahimovic (who scored twice at the Emirates) made his way to AC Milan. Then you have Messi. A little alien from Planet Futbol sent to Earth to blow everyone away with his ridiculous talent. Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta are all finalists for this year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or. Messi is currently their top scorer in La Liga with 17 goals and also in the Champions League with 6. His scoring ratio is about 1 per game, which is absolutely mental. If you think he was good when he put 4 past us last season, well, he’s even better now and continually rising.
　
I don’t really know what else to say. This is the worst possible draw for us. However, like I said, at least if we’re going to go out, we’ll go out early enough to focus on the league, or if we win we’ll have the toughest team out of the way. This will be a huge task for the team. If we play anything like we did last season, we’re screwed. Good thing is that we have until February to get our act together. We also can’t possibly have the same injury crisis we had last season. We lost Gallas, Cesc, Song, and Vermaelen in the first leg. The second leg saw us play Silvestre for godsake. We also had Almunia in goal, and you can talk all day long about his first half performance against them at the Emirates, but I think Fabianski or Szczesny will do better to keep us in it this time around. We’ll be without Sagna, who picked up a straight red in the Patizan match and thus will be suspended for the tie. We could do better this time, but if there’s one team that is prone to repeating the same errors over and over again, it’s Arsenal. Let’s see if our players really have matured and can stand up bravely to the challenge.
　
Oh yeah, and something about Cesc wanting to go back to his boyhood club in the summer, or something….I’m having a hard time remembering……..

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Category: Arsenal News, Champions League, Fixtures

Tags: Arsenal News, Champions League, Fixtures
« Poll: Who Should Be Arsenal’s Starting Goalkeeper? | Home | SJGgumbyIs there any chance this draw helps encourage Arsene to buy some defenders in January? Any? Even if there's not, would someone mind lying to me?Homey_MillsGood to see that mommy and daddy are thinking alike today. Since I don't have anything positive to say about the Barca stuff, I'll turn to other thoughts.
I read today that Eden Hazard would really like to join the Arsenal. He's one of the few young guys in a league outside England who I've actually heard of. So he must be pretty gangsta. Anyone else have thoughts on this?Barca_takalooking forward to this tie even though it's a re-match of last year's quarter-final tie. at least we know both teams will come out to play and try to score. when we meet in february, i just hope both teams can produce their best starting XIs without too much injuries.

agree with your take on the whole cesc-issue. i think it's safe to say most barca/arsenal fans are tired of the whole media circus. the actual footy should be worth the wait, though.

cheersDarren_VChampions of Europe! Champions of Europe!..... Yea... not us.
I really really really dislike Barca.ugh.Perry S.One last post: We all live and die by the Gunners, and our players should too. Regardless of our opponent, the boys MUST give it their all. Whatever the outcome may be, if we see a hard fought display on the pitch, I think most of us can be proud. The weekend is here, lets look forward to Stoke...KxevinDon't forget Pedro, who is playing extraordinary football right now, and the addition of Ibrahim Afellay, who I think will find time in our squad sooner than many people think.

This is going to be an excellent tie, I think. When healthy, you're better than you were last season, and it looks like you have people coming back at the right time. Chamakh is better at the point than Bendtner was last season for you, as well.

For us, Villa isn't the player that he will be next season, and I'm not a fan of his overall play right now. Messi is indeed out of his mind. A healthy, fit Iniesta is huge for us, and part of the reason that we're playing so well right now. We've also added Mascherano, who might see some time in the tie, and January signing rumors abound.

I'm excited. The only bummer for me is that the two footballing sides face off early, and against each other. Good luck, just not too much, if you know what I mean.

Perry S.Obviously a tough draw, and draw that as you said is very unlikely for us to get past, but I will add this -- the matches are after the January window, which allows us to shore up on defense and hopefully another out & out striker. As I said before, if Wenger truly does believe this is the year for great things, then the time has to come to make a decent splash in the market to plug the gaps.Gigi_manThx for the post. Martin and Sairax sometimes I think not to write, since its like you read my mind, every time I am reading a line I am thinking something else in conclkusion...which turns out to be your next line! So it makes me feel at home, but I then tend to say exactly the same as you did.
So, for my onw tradition and for you to know that I am still a faithful reader...hee I am.
Agree 100% with the toughts, cant really add anything more-
For those about to get dropped, I salute you!third eyeOkay, superb... Arsenal vs Barcelona ?!? I am in... And if we lose, I hope it will be with dignity and with a great fight not like last time we faced them and let Messi score four against us...

The same problems we've experienced and that we are having now will show up: we will lose focus. We won't pressure enough the player that has the ball. Our defence shall make a lot of mistake. Our chances won't be numerous and the few opportunities that we'll have, will be in vain.

We weren't able to beat Manchester United, so I'm not too hopeful about this one.
Before, we were able to play beautifully and dominate the ball even against tougher opposition. Now, we have difficulties to make complete passes. Our best players have fallen and the ones that are important are anonymous during important games. If I recall well, Barcelona had totally shut down our midfield. So, I would not be surprised if that happens again.

--------------------------I'm through with the negative thoughts------------------------

Nevertheless, we have a lot of time to upgrade our style of play and impose our new color.
With chance, Vermealen might be back for this confrontation. Djourou’s form will have to rise meteorically. Either that or Wenger will need another central defender because, right now, Laurent and Squillaci can't make it as starter. They are good sometimes, but they have limited talent and won't be able to deal with though opponents. Then, Wenger should use Gibbs to pressure Clichy to perform better.

Song should be warned to play his old role, but can participate in the offensive part by refining his long passes and vision of the game (If he is able to do so). Since Fabregas can play right now, the best for him would be to be gradually introduce games after games and upgrade his play. Wenger should use Fabregas with moderation until he recovers completely and should be kept for this fateful encounter.Then, Wenger should try different offensive combination between Arshavin, Chamakh and Van Persie. Nasri could be deployed as the box-to-box midfielder and develop that way for this big game and whenever we need to defend, then throw in Denilson. So Diaby, Walcott and him (Denilson) should upgrade their game in order to become the perfect subs.
Bendtner should try to compete with Chamakh to prove what he got in order for him to be another perfect sub. If Walcott is used on the wings to replace Arshavin to give more pace, then Bendtner should be used as Chamakh's replacement.
In that time period, Wenger should develop Vela to see if he can get better of him and possibly use him if one of his starter or fringe player is missing. Vela could replace Van Persi.
We have more than enough time to rectify this team. If Wenger can define a new style of play (passes and play beautiful, but with more efficiency), our form against the bigger team in the domestic league shall be a good indication of our chance to beat Barcelona…
Perry S.I'm sorry, but neither Bendtner nor Vela have no place playing against Barca unless we are forced into playing them due to injury. The same should be said about Clichy. If we have any hopes of surviving this draw, it comes down to purchasing some cold, hard steel to protect the backline.MartinBendtner was the one who put us in the overall lead against them in the second leg last season. Just sayin'...Gigi_manYep, I do remember joining you in your man crush that day, at that point all we had to do was be strong and defend ferouciously...which we didnt when Disastre passed the ball to Messi. But agreed in what both of you agree below, for the moment an impact sub.Perry S.Would you chalk that up to luck, or skill? Statistically speaking, do you feel he belongs in a match as such?MartinWell, it was a decent goal, and his form was very, very good last spring. And he does have an excellent goal scoring record in the Champions League. That having been said, at the moment, no, I would not start him in this match. He's not a bad option as an impact sub, but unless Chamakh gets hurt or his form suffers, I think St. Nick starts on the bench. The only caveat I would give is that a lot can happen in 3 months, we're not sure who will be playing well and who will not be when the actual matches roll around.Perry S.Fair enough, agreed. Time will tell, lets just hope we've got an in form, healthy Fabregas. I think we require his skillset for matches of this quality.MartinYeah, Wenger really doesn't seem to have an idea who to play that role when Cesc is out. I thought Nasri was pretty good at the start of the season, but Wenger really seems to prefer him out wide. Rosicky has been okay in spots but largely ineffective, and that's just not van Persie's position.J___VPersonally I think it's a great draw. Looking forward to it and the chance for our players to show that they are capable of performing far better than anything that they served up last year(even if they don't). It'll be a lot closer if our top players play to their top level which is something that they're obviously not doing right now but we'll see.blog comments powered by Disqus