By Myles Palmer
The six Champions League matches are :
Wed 17th Sept – Arsenal v Inter Milan
Dennis will want to play against his former club. Hector Cuper now has Kily Gonzalez from Valencia. English clubs are three games sharper than Italians, who kick off this Sunday.
Arsenal beat Juventus 3-1, so they can beat Inter 2-0. The Juve game was an intense battle for the first 25, but Freddie came through with two goals.
Tues 30th Sept – Lokomotiv Moscow v Arsenal
If you have to play to Moscow, go in September.They can’t be as good as Spartak, who thrashed Arsenal 4-1 after giving them a goal start. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that unforgettably dazzling Silvinho goal ?
Tues 21st Oct – Dynamo Kiev v Arsenal
Maxim Shatskikh is a 25-year old powerhouse centre forward from Uzbekistan. Scored against Newcastle last season and had two disallowed for offside. Maybe the most formidable unknown striker in world football, ready to step onto the big stage and make his mark.We haven’t seen much of him. We don’t really know how good he is. But he can’t be as good as Shevchenko. Nobody is.
Wed 5th Nov – Arsenal v Dynamo Kiev
Bergkamp, Overmars and co were outplayed at Wembley and lucky to get a 1-1 draw.This will be different. Romanian playmaker Cernat makes them tick, if he is fit.
Tues 25th Nov – Inter Milan v Arsenal
Christian Vieri, the English-speaking cricket fan, will want to show he is the world’s top No. 9. Last time Arsenal played a Hector Cuper team away they went down 1-0 in Valencia and lost their only quarter-final on away goals.
Wed 10th Dec – Arsenal v Lokomotiv Moscow
Russians may be out of the group by then, so this could be the best time to take three points from them.
FULL DRAW : GROUPS B, D AND F LOOK TOUGH
Group A Bayern Munich, Lyon, Celtic, Anderlecht
Group B Arsenal, Inter, Dynamo Kiev, Locomotive Moscow
Group C Deportivo La Coruna, PSV, AEK Athens, Monaco
Group D Juventus, Galatasaray, Olympiakos, Real Sociedad
Group E Man United, Panathinaikos,Rangers, Stuttgart
Group F Real Madrid, Porto, Marseille, Partizan Belgrade
Group G Lazio, Chelsea, Sparta Prague, Besiktas
Group H AC Milan, Celta Vigo, Ajax, Bruges
First thoughts on the draw were: Arsenal don’t have to go to Istanbul, Chelsea don’t have to go to Moscow, and Man United have an easy group.
Toure and Lehmann both did well in last night’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa, a much tighter game than the walkover at the Riverside last Sunday.
Arsene will be really glad he’s got an authoritative keeper when he gets on those planes to Milan, Kiev and Moscow.
Lehmann is commanding, safe, confidence-generating.
He kicks well with both feet.
In three months time we might be able to say : He’s as good as Seaman in his prime.
What I was clumsily tryng to suggest when I first wrote about Jens Lehmann here is that he might only be the second best goalkeeper in Germany, but he could still be the 5th best in the world.
The only way Kolo Toure can improve is by playing.
So Arsene is playing him. And it’s working . The team has scored 8 goals in 3 games and conceded only one.
Will Martin Keown be brought back for Inter? Nobody knows yet.
Lets see how Kolo does against Man City and Portsmouth.
He looks fine to me.His passing is better than Keown or Campbell, his athleticism is awesome, and he can bring the ball into midfield to buy time for movement up front.
He is only 5-11, but he can jump like Les Ferdinand.
Kolo Toure is a mega-discovery at a time when top coaches are scrambling around looking for good centrebacks.
If he makes a mistake, so what?
If it costs a goal, so what?
Every player makes mistakes and every player has been young.
What Kolo Toure has done so far has been superb.
It’s a hig season for him, a huge challenge – and he looks up to it.He looks as if hes enjoying it.
I’m not very superstitious.
But I’m A LITTLE BIT superstitious.
What’s the date of the European Cup Final?
26th May.
Where were Arsenal on 26th May 1989?
At Anfield, winning the title.
Did you see Real Madrid beat Mallorca 3-0?
Zidane was phenomenally strong and creative.The most complete player in the world, by far.
Roberto Carlos played the best defensive game I’ve ever seen him play, racing across to cover and clear when his centrebacks Helguera and Raul Bravo( !) were beaten by Eto’o and otherMallorca players.
Carlos set up the first goal for Raul.
Then Ronaldo produced a killer finish that arrowed past the keeper’s outstretched foot and just inside the post for 2-0.
Ronaldo then crossed from the left and when the keeper came a long way out and missed his punch, Beckham was there and kept his nerve and put a solid header into the net from 15 yards.
Becks didn’t bottle it. He kept his eye on the ball even though hewas half-expecting a punch in the face from the keeper.
GOOD GOAL, SON !
Newcastle lost on penalties to Partizan Belgrade and their share price dropped 14% today.
Borussia Dortmund lost to Bruges and their share price dropped 16%.
All in all, a good day for Gooners.
Long ago Arsenal fans tuned in their transistor radios to find out who they were playing in the FA Cup 3rd Round.It was the most exciting day of the season.
You could be playing any one of 90 English clubs, home or away
Today’s young fans can’t imagine 1960.
We’ve got Rotherham away! We did well: we got a 2-2 draw.
We are still in the FA Cup!
The replay at Highbury finishes 1-1. There is a second replay on a neutral ground in Sheffield : we lose 2-0.
That’s it for another year, folks.
Where did Arsenal finish in the league in 1960?
13th.
A year later the thrill of moving up to 11th was spoiled by Spurs becoming champions.
In the Sixties, Arsenal were mid-table until 1969, when they were 4th.
Now the Champions League is the exciting competition.
It’s : revenge time against Dynamo Kiev.
It’s : who have Juventus got? Who have Real Madrid got? Will Bayern go out in the first round like last year?
Different world.
28th August 2003