Tag Archives: Champions League

Ødegaard is our MOTM after trouncing PSV!

It’s not enough that a player scores what turns out to be the match-winning goal, assists the goal that puts the match on ice, and fails to win MOTM, but Martin Ødegaard’s all-around maestro-esque performance managed to attract 67.3% of the votes while Saka could only garner 11.4%. It’s a testament to the Norwegian’s preternatural talent and leadership but may also reflect the fact that he played the full match. It feels like we were a bit harsh on Havertz; he performed better than White, and Raya didn’t have much to do. It might be that Havertz is going to have score some goals. His all-around effort, if not on Ødegaard’s level, is still not attracting the praise it deserves. Let’s hope he picks the NLD for his breakthrough. For now, though, enjoy the graphic results!

Arsenal lay down a marker in dominant Champions League return!

And that is how you announce your return to the Champions League. A confident, swash-buckling 4-0 thrashing should send shivers through the rest of Group B if not every other squad and—okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Had we hung this scoreline on, say, Bayern or Barcelona, we could bray and thump our chests. PSV Eindhoven were clearly outmatched if not outclassed. It’s a great way to return to this glorious competition, and we shouldn’t make too much of it. Well, let’s allow ourselves to wallow and revel and beam just a little bit. It’s been a long time.

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At long last, the prodigal club returns to the Champions League…

To gaze up on that Champions League logo for the first time in a long time…

It’s Henry shrugging four and five Real Madrid defenders to score at the Bernabeu…Walcott blasting it past Neuer…van Persie squeezing it past Valdes at the near post…Ramsey’s stunner from distance against Galatasaray…Bellerin bursting forward against Bayern to feed Ozil…Arshavin sluicing through to score against Barca…that Rosický screamer…Podolski blasting it past Neuer…the list goes on and on—and those are just the tip of the iceberg. We’re back in the Champions League. Can you hear that siren-song? Can you feel it in your bones?

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Arsenal’s Champions League all but guarantees that we’ll advance to the knockout phase!

Just…let it roll around in your mouth. Savour it. Run your tongue across your teeth. The Champions League. Inhale deeply through the nostrils. Hold it…hold it…hoooolllllld it. We’re back. After seven long years, we’re back where we want to be, and, I’m not embarrassed to say that it feels very, very good. We’ve wandered the hinterlands lo these many years, but, at long last, we’re back. What’s more, we’ve been given a draw decent enough to inspire dreams of advancing past the group stage. Yes, everything’s comin’ up Milhouse!

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Bayern offer Arsenal triple-boost in the Prem!

We had all hoped that Bayern would make Man City work after losing the first leg 3-0 at the Etihad. We held onto the idea that Pep’s former club would circle the wagons after that lost and the dust-up that saw Mané punch Sané, scoring a few goals to at least make Pep’s current squad sweat and work, maybe even into added extra time. Alas, it was not to be as City eased past their hosts and into the Champions League semifinal. Still, there’s a silver lining to be snatched at if not seized, a gossamer thread that might just be tensile enough to lead to something…

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