Win in Portugal nothing to Bragabout

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Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
23 Nov	7:45 PM	CL	Sc Braga (A)	0	2	Lost

So, Braga away tomorrow night, and a chance for the players to redeem themselves perhaps? While a win would obviously be important and very much welcome, it will take a little more for me to forgive them for the manner of the Spurs defeat, but it's a start.

It feels like relief at the moment not to be playing at the Emirates, but the sad fact is, despite our impressive away form domestically, in the Champions League we do seem to struggle on our travels. We won the first game 6-0, and like the 5-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk it's unlikely to tell us much about how good Braga actually are.

One thing to hope for is no free kicks in dangerous positions; Arsenal's players are scared of getting smacked by the ball. Song I think it was who moved out of the way of Alex's thunderous shot at Stamford Bridge, and Fabregas who raised his arm stupidly to protect his face from van der Vaart's shot at the weekend. It's ridiculous, but our players are not the kind to put their bodies on the line for the cause.

Earlier in the season I had a feeling this could be a good year for us in Europe, but in the wake of recent events I'm obviously not as optimistic as I was. When you lose at home to West Brom, Newcastle and Spurs, what hope is there against anyone in the Champions League? Obviously a poor domestic campaign has spurred on the likes of Liverpool in 2005 and us in 2006 to surprising European runs, but back then we had Martin Keown coaching the defence, and an excellent goalkeeper in the form of his life. Barcelona were a great side that year as they are now, but that was our best chance of winning it.

Prior to that the Invincibles looked like the only other Arsenal side capable of going all the way, but the small squad that year couldn't handle the number of games and Chelsea took advantage, only to lose to Monaco in the semis.

I wonder now how the Invincibles would've done against Mourinho's Porto that year? Mourinho went on to manage Chelsea and never lost to Arsène Wenger, but he only ever faced them after the end of the unbeaten run messed the players up, and in seasons after that the team declined massively, finishing 4th two years in a row.

It's sad to think about it now, but that team could have and should have gone all the way that year. The long-term effects of that could have been enormous; no Champions League for Mourinho, no move to Chelsea, and perhaps a couple more league titles for the Gunners.

Ah well, the reality is what it is and in current circumstances it might be premature to think about the knockout stages just yet. Let's hope our way there is assured tomorrow.

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