How many of you were excited about the UEFA Champion's League draw last evening? I was. I was looking forward to watching it live at 4:30 our time, but i couldn't. Needless to say, I was pretty pissed. So I asked people to text me the draw.
I sat waiting in anticipation for the draw, hoping to get Lyon, Bordeaux or CSKA Moscow in our Pool. But it wasn't to be. Man Utd face Bayern Munich, with Lyon and Bordeaux in the other fixture. We, on the other hand, face Barcelona, with Inter Milan and CSKA in the other fixture. I was pissed. Again.
It is pretty pissing off when our bitter rivals from Manchester get much easier fixtures when we've got death fixtures. For the trophy, we'll need to ward off Spanish greats Barcelona and then the Italian champions Inter. Come on, we all know Moscow don't stand a chance.
Pep Guardiola is a brilliant coach who has brought out the best in his players. Barcelona have many feared players like Xavi, Iniesta, Henry and we all know Lionel Messi. Barcelona have a fluid, attacking style of play, and are very good on the counter attack. Some say they sometimes are susceptible at the back, but that depends on their performance on the day. Their style of play is similar to Arsenal's, with many critics saying that 'They play like Arsenal, but get trophies'.
The odds will be against us in this two-legged fixture, with the first one at The Emirates on March 31st and the second at the Noucamp on April 6th. This will mark the return of Thierry Henry, the best striker, if not player, that Arsenal have ever had, to the home of the Gunners.
Also, Fabregas will be playing against the team of his youth, where he, Messi and Pique played together as teenagers. This is a tough draw for Arsenal, while neutrals will be relishing this clash as it's the pick of the Champion's League fixtures.
We have the midfield power to set up our strikers intelligently to pose problems to Barca's back four, which sounds like a good plan provided that Bendtner doesn't do what he did against Burnley. Our midfield with Alex Song holding midfield will allow Nasri to push forward, probing the defence and also looking goalwards. Fabregas will be ever so influential in setting up opportunities and he has the quality to turn the game on its head. Rosicky is set to return and the Czech international's skill will help in counter-attacking and he can pick out spaces and runs.
Arshavin as a supporting striker or just a floating attacker on the left can pose problems to Barcelona as he can magic opportunities out of nowhere as he has shown this season against Man United and Liverpool, to name a few. Still in midfield we have Diaby who can pose a threat, but I'd keep him on the bench. Walcott should be brought on a little after the first half, depending on the game, as a set of speedy fresh legs. His pure pace and pinpoint crosses could be a big threat to the Catalans. It would be nice if he plays like how he played in the second half against Burnley. As for our strikers, we have Eduardo and Bendtner both who can get the job done on the day. I feel that even though Eduardo's a better striker, Bendtner can compliment Walcott's crosses if his aerial skills are up to the mark against Barcelona.
As for our defence, they can be picked apart if not careful. Iniesta's creative play did just that in last year's final against Manchester United. Our back four needs to cope with the brilliance, guile and tact of Messi and also Henry. We have a bit of experience in our ranks, in the form of Sol Campbell. Last time we were pitted against Barca, this man scored from a Henry free-kick. He should know a thing or two, especially how to keep the former Arsenal marksman quiet. Tomas Vermaelen is a complete physical defender, so we have no complaints from that point of view, but we need to defend intelligently, to stem the creativity that flows from the Spaniards. Gael Clichy is physical enough and quick enough to cope, but questions may be asked of Bacary Sagna. Seydou Keita is back from injury for Barca and he posed threats to Arsenal when he played for Sevilla and beat us a few seasons ago. Xavi is set to be sidelined for two weeks, but whether or not he will play at the Emirates is too close to call. Another player who could be more than a handful for us is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swedish international hasn't scored many goals for the Spanish giants in 2010, but hopefully he won't score against the Londoners either. Bojan Krkic will probably start on the bench, so Barcelona have plenty of good options throughout the pitch.
Arsenal are probably written off now, because of the draw, but that only goes to show that we are playing very well, grinding out results and being able to win when we need it and so the draw is only psychologically diminishing our odds. We were written off in the 05-06 season after we drew Real Madrid and then had a goalless draw at Emirates. We then went to the Bernabeu with all odds against us and good old Thierry scored a wonder goal to send us through, while making us the first English team to beat Real at home.
In 07-08 we drew AC Milan, when they were in good form and all of us were like 'Oh crap'. We drew the home fixture and again- 'Oh crap'. We went to the San Siro to make it AC Milan 0-2 Arsenal. We've beat the odds in Europe many times before, we can do it again, for glory and to prove our critics wrong.
It's time for the Young Gunners to prove their mettle.
