Arsenal showed great resolve to come back from being 2-0 down in just 15 minutes to win the game 3-2 last night.
Goals from Granit Xhaka, Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil ensured the Gunners collected three points to continue their battle with Paris St. Germain for top spot in the group. Ludogorets were also very good last night, and constantly hit Arsenal on the counter, keeping David Ospina much busier than he was in the 6-0 thrashing they received in the reverse fixture.
Arsenal have started the season brilliantly, and are currently on a 15-match unbeaten run in all competitions. But can this Arsenal side actually go on to win the Champions League this season?
In the past 4 seasons, Arsenal have only managed to make it to the round of 16, and their results have read as such :
2012-13:
Arsenal 1-3 Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich 0-2 Arsenal
Aggregate: Arsenal 3-3(a) Bayern Munich
2013-14:
Arsenal 0-2 Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich 1-1 Arsenal
Aggregate: Arsenal 1-3 Bayern Munich
2014-15:
Arsenal 1-3 Monaco
Monaco 0-2 Arsenal
Aggregate: Arsenal 3-3(a) Monaco
2015-16:
Arsenal 0-2 Barcelona
Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal
Aggregate: Arsenal 1-5 Barcelona
What immediately stands out from that list is how weak Arsenal are in the first tie, all of which have been at home. Arsenal have constantly given themselves a mountain to climb going into the second leg of their round of 16 ties, and not once have they been able to surmount the odds.
Every year it is the same story, and this has been attributed to a variety of things such as Arsene Wenger’s naivety in the opening fixtures, the players’ lack of mental strength, and Arsenal not addressing weak areas of their team – usually up front or in midfield.
Wenger has shown this season that he is willing to change his tactics based on the opponent – more so than in previous years at least. One has only to look at the victory over Chelsea and the draw with Paris St. Germain to see the different approach that he used in these games.
The players have also shown more grit and determination than in previous seasons, at least so far. Last night’s victory over Ludogorets is an example, and the 4-1 thrashing of Sunderland – which Wenger admittedly said had him worried until the introduction of Olivier Giroud led to two goals – are proof of that.
As for Arsenal’s squad, it certainly looks a lot stronger than it has been in the last few seasons.
In defence, Shkodran Mustafi has been rock-solid alongside Laurent Koscielny, with his only glaring error this season coming against Sunderland. The German seems to have already established a good understanding with his partner at centre half. Hector Bellerin has only become better with more experience, and Nacho Monreal has been reliable as ever.
In midfield, Arsenal are no longer light on numbers. Mohamed Elneny – who was signed in January last year – and Granit Xhaka, signed this summer from Borussia Monchengladbach, have added enough versatility and depth to the midfield that an injury to Coquelin or Ramsey is not catastrophic, something that would have had Arsenal fans sweating buckets last season.
Up front, not much has really changed. Lucas Perez was signed from Deportivo La Coruna for £17m, and his attempt to settle have been completely disrupted by injury, with the striker now facing up to 8 weeks out after picking up an injury in the EFL cup tie with Reading.
The only thing that has really changed is that Wenger has now begun utilising Alexis Sanchez as a centre-forward in the majority of his games. Alex Iwobi has been fine on the wing, and Theo Walcott has also been in fantastic form thus far – although he now also has an injury that has no reported return date. The experiment with Sanchez has proven to be an extremely successful one -with the Gunners’ 15-match unbeaten run evidence of that. In Europe, they will in all likelihood top their group, with their current form setting them in good stead for a victory over Paris St. Germain in the reverse fixture at the Emirates.
The Gunners have not topped their group in any of the years mentioned above. This has, in turn, led to Arsenal getting the most difficult ties in the round of 16, with the exception being Monaco despite the Gunners suffering an embarassing exit to Wenger’s former club.
This leads us to the main question – can the Gunners do it under pressure in the knock-out ties of the Champions League?
As I mentioned before, Arsene Wenger has shown that he is willing to be tactically flexible depending on the game, and this is something he will absolutely need to maintain in order to mount a serious assault on the Champions League trophy. The Gunners can no longer afford to lose the opening leg by big margins, and then exit the second leg with a perceived “valiant effort.”
Do the Gunners have the quality in this side to win the trophy though?
Clearly, Arsenal do not have the best squad on the planet, but they do have what a lot of other teams currently lack – a chemistry within the team that hasn’t been this clear in years gone by. The Gunners are still prone to nervy performances, but as the season goes on and the confidence grows, the hope for Wenger is that these performances too will be few and far between.
Another thing that stands out from the fixtures above, is just how close the Gunners have come on several occasions. Twice they have tied – most notably the first with Bayern Munich – only to go out on away goals. Against the German side, this was no small feat considering the behemoths they were at the time, playing some of the best football their club has ever played. Against Monaco, an unforgivable 3-1 loss was followed by a disciplined 2-0 victory but it was too little too late for the Gunners as once again they exited on away goals.
These nervy starts to games and slow starts to opening legs absolutely have to disappear if Arsene Wenger wants this side to progress.
After the victory against Ludogorets last night, Wenger had this to say:
“I believe that the most difficult thing in life is to be consistent at the top level,”
“So it shows we have been quite consistent there. That we could do it again this year… hopefully we can go further now.
“We have a game at home where we can finish top of the group. Let’s maintain the quality of our results until the game against Paris St Germain. We are in position to finish top of the group.”
Consistent at the top level is the key here. It is one thing to come back from 2-0 down against Ludogorets, a Bulgarian side that no one thought would pose the slightest challenge to anyone this season, and quite another to do it against the likes of Barcelona. If Wenger wants to win the Champions League this season, consistency against teams of that calibre is critical to their hopes.
What is clear is that three things need to come together for Arsenal to have any hope of finally winning the competition this season – Their performances, their fitness and Wenger’s tactical approach to the big games. If those three conditions are met, there is no reason they cannot win it, as it is football… and anything is possible in football.
