Friday, December 17, 2010

50% Chance of Disaster

In the 2nd round of this season's Champions League, Arsenal will play Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Schalke.

Barcelona would absolutely muller Arsenal.

Real Madrid would absolutely muller Arsenal.

In the other two scenarios, the Gunners would be expected to win through, but as the group stage has proven, anyone has a chance against Arsenal these days.

I would struggle to get excited if the draw presents a tie against either of the Germans. The sad fact is, Arsenal's continued progress in the competition would represent only delayed disaster. They will be turfed out by the first good side they face.

Wenger has never beaten Mourinho and the chances of that ever happening decline with every new day of misguided, myopic idealism.

And if Barca can beat Real Madrid 5-0, logic dictates that they could aim for double figures over two legs against Arsenal {they could have had five after twenty minutes at the Emirates last season).

The further Arsenal get, the greater the chance they will meet another of the English sides.

Arsenal cannot beat Manchester United over two legs.

Arsenal cannot beat Chelsea over two legs.

Arsenal could beat Spurs over two legs, but imagine they didn't.

So I will finish this by saying I hope Arsenal get Madrid or Barca. I pray that elimination comes soon so the winnable tournaments may be focussed on for the remainder of the season.

And with that I return to drinking this half-empty cup of tea.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Il semble que vous soyez un expert dans ce domaine, vos remarques sont tres interessantes, merci.

- Daniel