Soler
Established Member
Originally posted Thursday, 16 December 2004 9:18 AM
With Arsenal's commanding and relaxed 5-1 demolition over Rosenborg last week, the Gunners from N5 achieved their fifth consecutive qualification from the first group stage of the ever-disappointing UEFA Champions League. Once again Arsenal had to do things the hard way, much like last season's foray into Europe where Arsenal sat dead last in Group B at the end of Matchday 3.
A win against the multi-time Norwegian champions Rosenborg would send Arsenal into the Knockout Stages regardless of the result in Athens, but a Panathinaikos win would see Arsenal top the group: that very result happened as Arsenal trounced the Norwegians, and the Greeks slammed four past a PSV Eindhoven side that hadn't conceded a goal domestically for over a thousand minutes.
A rather inept performance in the Group Stages saw Arsenal looking like they were about to reach an all new low in Europe (which is certainly saying something!) and facing elimination from a group which hardly contained any European heavy hitters. The 1-0 victory over PSV on Matchday 1 was followed by four successive draws, all in matches Arsenal really should have won.
Arsenal allowed Panathinaikos to come back and snatch a point in Athens, with absolutely pathetic set piece defending which allowed Nigerian born Pole Emmanuel Olisadebe a chance to equalise and rob Arsenal of a victory, previously slack defending and a lacklustre performance allowed part-timers Rosenborg to grab a draw in Trondheim.
All this was compounded by a Pascal Cygan own-goal that gave Panathinaikos a 1-1 draw at Highbury (admittedly, Angelos Basinas did miss a penalty kick, however). The fourth draw was collected in Eindhoven with Lauren and Vieira sent off, however it was a well earned result for Arsenal leaving us with seven points from five games and a must win encounter against Rosenborg at Highbury.
The other seven teams that join Arsenal in the knockout stage draw as group-winners are AS Monaco, TSV Bayer Leverkusen 04, Juventus del Turin, Olympique Lyonnais, AC Milan, FC Internazionale and some other club no one cares about. All of these seven clubs finished with more points than Arsenal did, but Arsenal join Juventus and Inter as teams who didn't lose a single game.
Of course, as per the rules of UEFA, Arsenal can not been drawn against another group winner at this stage, nor can Arsenal be drawn against PSV, Manchester United or Liverpool from the second pot of teams as the rules state no team from the same country shall play each other in the Knockout round or a team played in the previous group stage.
So, that leaves Arsenal with but five teams: nine-time champions Real Madrid CF, 2001 champions FC Bayern München, current La Liga leaders FC Barcelona, reigning Bundesliga champions SV Werder Bremen and last seasons Champions League winners FC Porto.
There are three mouth-watering ties for Arsenal in the second pot against Barcelona, Bayern and the ever present Merengue's of Real Madrid. Should Arsenal be drawn against any of these three – especially the two Spanish sides – it will be a spectacle of attacking, flowing football of the highest calibre if Deco, Xavi, Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Zidane, Figo and Ronaldo walk out through the thin, caged tunnel that leads out from the East Stand.
Opponents and matches like that are what we play in Europe for, a dream tie against Real or Barcelona would certainly be more satisfying than matches against, with all due respect, SV Werder Bremen or FC Porto, even if the latter is reigning Champions League holders.
With Arsenal's commanding and relaxed 5-1 demolition over Rosenborg last week, the Gunners from N5 achieved their fifth consecutive qualification from the first group stage of the ever-disappointing UEFA Champions League. Once again Arsenal had to do things the hard way, much like last season's foray into Europe where Arsenal sat dead last in Group B at the end of Matchday 3.
A win against the multi-time Norwegian champions Rosenborg would send Arsenal into the Knockout Stages regardless of the result in Athens, but a Panathinaikos win would see Arsenal top the group: that very result happened as Arsenal trounced the Norwegians, and the Greeks slammed four past a PSV Eindhoven side that hadn't conceded a goal domestically for over a thousand minutes.
A rather inept performance in the Group Stages saw Arsenal looking like they were about to reach an all new low in Europe (which is certainly saying something!) and facing elimination from a group which hardly contained any European heavy hitters. The 1-0 victory over PSV on Matchday 1 was followed by four successive draws, all in matches Arsenal really should have won.
Arsenal allowed Panathinaikos to come back and snatch a point in Athens, with absolutely pathetic set piece defending which allowed Nigerian born Pole Emmanuel Olisadebe a chance to equalise and rob Arsenal of a victory, previously slack defending and a lacklustre performance allowed part-timers Rosenborg to grab a draw in Trondheim.
All this was compounded by a Pascal Cygan own-goal that gave Panathinaikos a 1-1 draw at Highbury (admittedly, Angelos Basinas did miss a penalty kick, however). The fourth draw was collected in Eindhoven with Lauren and Vieira sent off, however it was a well earned result for Arsenal leaving us with seven points from five games and a must win encounter against Rosenborg at Highbury.
The other seven teams that join Arsenal in the knockout stage draw as group-winners are AS Monaco, TSV Bayer Leverkusen 04, Juventus del Turin, Olympique Lyonnais, AC Milan, FC Internazionale and some other club no one cares about. All of these seven clubs finished with more points than Arsenal did, but Arsenal join Juventus and Inter as teams who didn't lose a single game.
Of course, as per the rules of UEFA, Arsenal can not been drawn against another group winner at this stage, nor can Arsenal be drawn against PSV, Manchester United or Liverpool from the second pot of teams as the rules state no team from the same country shall play each other in the Knockout round or a team played in the previous group stage.
So, that leaves Arsenal with but five teams: nine-time champions Real Madrid CF, 2001 champions FC Bayern München, current La Liga leaders FC Barcelona, reigning Bundesliga champions SV Werder Bremen and last seasons Champions League winners FC Porto.
There are three mouth-watering ties for Arsenal in the second pot against Barcelona, Bayern and the ever present Merengue's of Real Madrid. Should Arsenal be drawn against any of these three – especially the two Spanish sides – it will be a spectacle of attacking, flowing football of the highest calibre if Deco, Xavi, Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Zidane, Figo and Ronaldo walk out through the thin, caged tunnel that leads out from the East Stand.
Opponents and matches like that are what we play in Europe for, a dream tie against Real or Barcelona would certainly be more satisfying than matches against, with all due respect, SV Werder Bremen or FC Porto, even if the latter is reigning Champions League holders.
