Does this show Arsenal CAN win Champions League?

Arsenal fans may well be thinking `if only´ today. If only Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal players had prepared properly for the first two Champions League group games against Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos then we could now be sitting on top of the group. With ifs and buts and all that however, you never know how the Gunners would have performed last night if we had won those two earlier games.

There is still a lot of work for Arsenal to do to get out of the group and even if we pull off another shock in Munich and beat Bayern again in a couple of weeks, the chances are that we would still finish behind them as their goal difference is much better and their final two games are slightly easier as they have already been to Athens.

What last night´s win did show us, however, is that Arsenal can beat the biggest and best in Europe. Did you know that we are the only club to have won against both of Pep Guardiola´s world beating sides, Barcelona and Bayern? And there is clear evidence that our manager has adapted his tactics and found a better way to play against the top teams.

Check out this report in the Daily Mail that shows our possession stats of less than 27 percent against the German giants were the lowest of any match Arsenal have won under Wenger.

Now while you could say that Bayern´s passing style and quality may not have given us a lot of choice but the report goes on to prove that this reduced insistence on possession is a plan, or plan B if you will, because it contains a table of the ten games we have won under the prof with the lowest percentage of the ball. Amazingly, they were all in 2015 and include such big games as the Community Shield win over Chelsea, Wenger´s first over Mourinho as well as the wins over Man United this season and in the FA cup last season.

My point is that Arsenal now know how to win these big games and that means that qualifying second from the UCL group might not be such a problem. What do you think?

Tags Bayern Wenger

15 Comments

  1. It shows that we have what it takes to challenge. Whether we fight so hard in every match is another thing …
    But if we do, yeah, we can win it…

  2. If the spine of the team (Cech-Koscielny-Cazorla-Coquelin-Sanchez) stay fit, yes we can. But I won’t start talking about winning the UCL until we get at least a point in Germany. Until then…

  3. Listen Baby Please

    Teams who weren’t favourites have won Champions League, like Liverpool, Chelsea, Porto, AC Milan, Red Star Belgrade, PSV, Steau Bucharest, Ajax

    So of course it’s not impossible

    With WC Goalkeeper and a WC defender and three WC midfielders in addition to very competent players we are one of the top sides outside the big five (Real, Barca, Munich, Juventus, Man City)

    So I agree we can win BUT

    We only have 3 points in our group. Bayern and Olympiakos both have 6. We need to focus on qualifying first. If Olympiakos gets to nine points we are in trouble.

    Bayern 6………+6
    OlympI. 6……..-1
    Arsenal 3……… 0
    Zagreb. 3……..-5

    Goal difference may be important

    Beating both Olympiakos and Zagreb will be important regardless of the result of the Bayern match but getting points off Bayern will help big time

    1. Goal difference is not the first priority. When teams have the same point, the result of the match between that teams will decide the ranking. SO if we win the last 3 matches, we will have 12 points and absolutely finish top of the group. If we lose in Munich and win the last 2 matches, we will have 9 points, and if at that time Olympiakos have 9 points, the goal difference in 2 matches between ARS and OLYM will decide.
      I hope ARS will win the last 3, hahaha.

  4. Without TV coverage I followed the Beyern match on live text . From what I read plus the stats
    of the match I`d say Arsenal rode their luck. Let`s not get carried away.

    1. Rode their luck? Nothing lucky about it. Arsenal dropped deep and didn’t press in their own half but did press in Munich’s half. It was planned and executed well.

  5. Great game, great win but come on get real Arsenal lost the first two games won one and now Arsenal are going to win the Champions League who writes this BULL Sxxx.

  6. We cant play on both fronts at once. If Wenger buys in january ( which will not happen) then yes.

    Who can make this team stronger? Players like Griezmann for example and some other decent Dm out there.

  7. The away game will be the better indicator. If we can draw or at least get a goal away from home those results are what are really valuable in the champions league.

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