Arsenal vs ??? - Pre/Post Thoughts on Arsenal's Round of 16 Opponent

[ibreak4coffee]

Tomorrow is the big day. The question now looms: who will be Arsenal's next victim in the Champions League? Let me handicap the possibilities (there are only five):

BARCELONA: Worst case scenario. Barcelona would exploit our porous defense like no other team in Europe. I cringe at what Ronaldihno might do. Furthermore, their midfield would run ours out of the park. On the positive side, they may not be able to field a team come February, with their recent string of injuries. I dont want this match-up though, as I am biased: I love the Catalans, and the fact that Barcelona is the best team in Europe right now.

BAYERN MUNICH: Next worse case scenario. Bayern are strong all around, with a good defense, strong attack, good aerial game, lots of experience, and good coaching. Basically, on the plus side we can say that we are faster and could keep them on their heels for the two legs. On the negative side though are all the ingredients of a team that could pose problems for us: strong from set pieces, good midfield (anchored by Ballack :o ), lots of experience in this competition, and of course strong organizational attributes. I definitely dont want to play these guys in the round of 16.

REAL MADRID: Not bad, but not great. On the plus side, Madrid has definitely performed poorly this year. On the bad side, however, look at their roster. With that talent and experience, and maybe finally some motivation, Madrid is capable of beating any team on the planet.

WERDER BREMEN: Interesting but dangerous. On the plus side, Bremen does not the star power to seriously match ours. On the negative side however, they are a well organized, strong-in-the-air German side that could bog our attack down in midfield and cause havoc on set pieces. All in all though one of the better options... they havent matched last year's form yet.

PORTO: Best case scenario. On the plus side, they are playing terribly this year and dont seem to have gotten over Mourinho's departure. On the negative side... experience. They just won the damn thing, and know how to beat the best teams in Europe. Based on match-up's and current form, however, I hope we draw them (They also play in one the finest stadiums in all of Europe, so a treat for all fans who would make the trip)


So its obvious I'd like to see Porto, but any of these match-up's are tough. Lets see what happens tomorrow. Then we can break down how we will win :)

My predictions for the other EPL squads:

Man U will get Inter Milan and lose :D
Chelsea will get PSV Eindhoven and win comfortably
Liverpool will draw Juventus and get played off the pitch easily

[Neo¹]

I want Real Madrid or Porto, I really dont think we could beat any other side with this current squad.

[phishy]

I want Barcelona or Real Madrid..

Barca's midfield would boss ours??? they are decent, no question.. but paddy/edu/cesc/pires/ljungberg/reyes can handle that lot no problem. I worry more about our keeper than the midfield. Madrid would be another that would silence some critics and they would actually come out and PLAY us (like barca) instead of playing negative ball like manyoo and chelsea. I dare teams to come out and actually play us instead of playing it close to the vest. We'd expose them~

[nicephoras]

Madrid would be another that would silence some critics and they would actually come out and PLAY us (like barca) instead of playing negative ball like manyoo and chelsea. I dare teams to come out and actually play us instead of playing it close to the vest. We'd expose them~

Er, phishy? Not to burst your bubble, but we've come at you for the last two seasons.
Carry on with the rant, however.

[phishy]

Er, phishy? Not to burst your bubble, but we've come at you for the last two seasons.
Carry on with the rant, however.

i respect that opinion... ill agree to disagree~
no bubble burst!! lol
little serious for such a wise arse

[fedwood]

does anybody know the exact time of the draw
because EuroSportNews said they will be having the draw live tomrow morning
and i think that might be ~12 hours away so i wanna watch

[mis-e-one]

Barca would be difficult as would Real Madrid IMO.

The best bet would be Werder Bremen (Arsenal beat them in the UEFA Cup a few seasons back) IMO.

[Suckafree]

does anybody know the exact time of the draw
because EuroSportNews said they will be having the draw live tomrow morning
and i think that might be ~12 hours away so i wanna watch

Draw in at 12:00 PM CET tomorrow in Nyon, Switzerland. That is 6 AM EST, 5 AM CST, 4 AM MST, or 3 AM PST. I'm stoked for the draw and all bit I can wait till i get into the office at 7, 4 AM is a little early for me.

[mad theory]

BARCELONA: Worst case scenario. Barcelona would exploit our porous defense like no other team in Europe. I cringe at what Ronaldihno might do. Furthermore, their midfield would run ours out of the park. On the positive side, they may not be able to field a team come February, with their recent string of injuries. I dont want this match-up though, as I am biased: I love the Catalans, and the fact that Barcelona is the best team in Europe right now.

They aren’t as good as you claim.

1. The only problem defensively we have is aerially, and Barca don't have enough tall players to really trouble us.

2. I'm confident our midfield can hold their own against theirs. Hopefully Vieira will be back to his best by February, so we'll just assign him to mark Ronny out.

3. They're arguably the best team in Europe but this potential match up will be in mid-season, and who knows what will happen to them by then.

[antifan]

Bring on Real! They are't playing well, and if we can take them out in a pair of goalfests confidence will soar.

[ibreak4coffee]

They aren’t as good as you claim.

1. The only problem defensively we have is aerially, and Barca don't have enough tall players to really trouble us.

2. I'm confident our midfield can hold their own against theirs. Hopefully Vieira will be back to his best by February, so we'll just assign him to mark Ronny out.

3. They're arguably the best team in Europe but this potential match up will be in mid-season, and who knows what will happen to them by then.

I disagree. Our midfield couldnt handle many of the teams we had in the first round, so imagine what Deco, Giuly and company will do. Furthermore, the more into the season it goes, the more Barcelona can get healthier. It cant get worse than it is right now. Plus Barca hasnt won the league like Arsenal for a long time. Doubt they will be up for this?

Plus the english media have in the past liked to state how Arsenal were the best team in Europe to watch and could score more than anyone. I doubt Barcelona agrees, and will be keen to win in style.

And hate to break it to you, but considering his recent form Vieria wont mark Ronny out of any game. Maybe the only hope for Vieria is that since he so wanted to play for Madrid, he'll be motivated to beat the evil Barca :rolleyes:

[phishy]

And hate to break it to you, but considering his recent form Vieria wont mark Ronny out of any game. Maybe the only hope for Vieria is that since he so wanted to play for Madrid, he'll be motivated to beat the evil Barca :rolleyes:


completely disagree... Vieira can mark ronaldinho out of the game.. hell, i saw an albacete team mark him out with zero quality midfielders. Vieira is one of the best in the world. and you talk about form as if this game would be played next week.. it is months away.. paddy didnt forget how to play this game overnite.

[ibreak4coffee]

completely disagree... Vieira can mark ronaldinho out of the game.. hell, i saw an albacete team mark him out with zero quality midfielders. Vieira is one of the best in the world. and you talk about form as if this game would be played next week.. it is months away.. paddy didnt forget how to play this game overnite.

Its hard to argue with your points. We would have to take a wait and see approach obviously considering his form moving forward.

One thing is certain though: if you were Ronaldihno, which match would you save your best effort for: Arsenal in the Champions League, or a relegation worthy side in la Liga?

[phishy]

Its hard to argue with your points. We would have to take a wait and see approach obviously considering his form moving forward.

One thing is certain though: if you were Ronaldihno, which match would you save your best effort for: Arsenal in the Champions League, or a relegation worthy side in la Liga?
see coffee.. that makes sense, but every game for a professional matters. They nearly (and perhaps should of) lost that game vs a relegation dweller, so it's not like they were going through them with ease. You would hope a professional is "up" for everygame, but it probably doesn't happen.

[redondo66]

They aren’t as good as you claim.

1. The only problem defensively we have is aerially, and Barca don't have enough tall players to really trouble us.

2. I'm confident our midfield can hold their own against theirs. Hopefully Vieira will be back to his best by February, so we'll just assign him to mark Ronny out.



1. Exactly, Mad Theory. This trendy bashing of our back four is way overblown and should only apply to set pieces which has more to do with the whole team's organization than 4 individual defenders. But as far as their performance within the run of play, they have been quite good and I have complete confidence in them. I'd be concerned if teams were generating lots of scoring chances consistently but that hasn't happened at all this year, with the exception of liverpool (from what i heard, wasn't able to catch that one, fortunately). Sol has been great of late, Toure is an absolute specimen (how about him beating drogba off the ball sunday?), Lauren has played really well lately, and Cole has been solid, though not his regular self.

2. Ronaldhino poses problems for anyone but I think we could contain him as well as anyone. Though I see Vieria winning tackles (he still has it by the way, his criticism is overblown as well), the marking duty would regularly fall to Sol and Toure. Ronny ain't going anywhere on those two. Damn, I'm getting worked up. Bring 'em on! Actually at this point psychologically it might be ok to draw the best team. In that sense at least you guarantee player motivation, instead of expecting a win. Also, there are no bad teams at this point.

[AmericanGunner]

Agree with Barca our worst case scenario.

For posterity sake, if we get and beat Real Madrid we increase our stature world wide. Yes, its not the same Real Madrid side from '00-'02 but they have the name and if you beat Mike Tyson whether he's 20 or 30, you can say you beat Mike Tyson. Itw will be a scoreline like the Spurs game. We have far more pace than them. The problem is us being in awe of the Bernabau and the club. Knowing us, we'll give them too much respect and not play our game. We'll play too cautious. If we played them, I'd put Sol on the left of the pitch so he's matched up against Ronaldo who likes to run the inside left channel. I'd also have Vieira play more to the left as well. I actually fear Owen more than Raul if we played them. He knows how to score on us.

Disagree on Bayern Munich. They are not the same Bayern. We'll draw at worst in Munich and beat them here. We have more pace. They are better organized but if we are in form, we'll win 2-1 in Munich. We would also gain stature beating a storied club like that as well.

Bremen can be problems. If we go in confident but not cocky, we should win or draw at their pitch.

We will beat Porto as long as we don't stop playing after a goal. We are susceptible to corners and Benny McCarthy and company can head the ball. Playing there first is the best advantage.

[Val1]

The point of the Champions League is for the best to get to play the best. Right now, Barcelona is the best. I want to play them and see how we match up against them. Second choice would be Real beause I'm tired of all the Player X to Real stories. I'd like to give them a good thumping and think we can do it, even with our recent poorer form.

Maybe the thought of playing either of the two Spanish teams would be good for breaking Reyes out of his mini-slump or for Paddy, the chance to help destroy Real may get him over the summer unpleasantness, from which I don't think he's yet recovered.

Bring on Barca!:p

[fedwood]

i hope we draw one of the German teams so i can scream "shizer" at the tv

[babyduck85]

i'm surprised that most of you guys are fine with the idea of barca...! it terrifies me, but of course on paper it sounds like a fanstastically fun game, for a neutral especially... but for me, considering our current not so impressive form, i want us to get through this stage with the least amount of hassle.

so porto seems like the best option, followed by bremen, bayern and real.

btw, have we ever played madrid or barca? i feel like both are such classic match-ups, yet i don't think either has actually happened...?

anyway, all shall be revealed in less than 3 hours, i think. :D

[fedwood]

i'm surprised that most of you guys are fine with the idea of barca...! it terrifies me, but of course on paper it sounds like a fanstastically fun game, for a neutral especially... but for me, considering our current not so impressive form, i want us to get through this stage with the least amount of hassle.

so porto seems like the best option, followed by bremen, bayern and real.

btw, have we ever played madrid or barca? i feel like both are such classic match-ups, yet i don't think either has actually happened...?

anyway, all shall be revealed in less than 3 hours, i think. :D


IN 1999 Arsenal played both Real Madrid and Barcelona

though the Barcelona was in the Champions League but the Real Madrid was in a testimonial game so i guess that doesnt really count but i think they brought their full team