Arsenal’s European survival is on a knife edge.
Can they beat PSV by 2-0 ?
Is Eboue really a big, big doubt? If he can’t play, will Djourou deputise at right back ?
Thankfully, Saturday’s Reading game was never as close as the scoreline made it look. Reading scored because Arsene brought on a sub when he was defending a corner.
You never do that. I saw Joe Fagan do it in a Charity Shield game at Wembley and he admitted it was stupid. Senderos came on and headed the corner in off Fabregas. An o.g. by AW.
Unfortunately, Arsenal only looked dangerous on the counter-attack. Since PSV will not support their attacks, Arsenal will not be able to counter-attack very much.
When Arsenal defend a corner they bring all eleven players back, drawing their opponents forward because they have nobody to mark, then win the ball around the box and explode down the field with sprints and slick passes that create one-on-one scoring chances.
That is when Arsenal are exciting. They do that better than any team in the world.
This PSV game, however, may not be exciting because PSV don’t need to score again. Edison Mendez pinched one goal from 25 yards and that’s all they need. It might be the kind of game where Arsenal have the ball for 70 seconds and then PSV have it for 50 seconds then Arsenal have it for 60 seconds and nothing happens in the penalty areas.
So PSV might not have a corner till it’s 1-1 on aggregate. And if PSV score before Arsenal score, forget it. The Emirates will be half empty within ten minutes.
As I said, it might not be exciting. But it will be tense.
In 2006, Arsenal went to Real Madrid and won 1-0.They developed the knack of wining tight ties by one goal.
In 2007, they went to PSV Eindhoven and lost 1-0.
That gives them a tightrope to walk : you must attack but you have to defend.
The Emirates needs big nights, new history, and while a first leg can’t be a big night, a second legs can as long as Arsenal go through and something memorable happens.
If they draw the season is, in effect, over. Arsenal can finish third or fourth comfortably, since Bolton and Portsmouth have fallen apart and thus proved that the Premiership is a weak division which will always be dominated by the same four clubs.
JEFFERSON FARFAN, PSV’s top scorer, missed the first leg but is now back. He scored inside three minutes in their 2-0 win over RKC on Saturday.
While Kone isn’t good enough to really trouble Toure and Gallas, Farfan might be. Until we see the big Peruvian we cannot know.
Farfan certainly puts himself about, I discovered after checking Uefa’s official foul count.
Fabregas has 16 fouls in 445 minutes, Tiago of Lyon has 17 in 506 minutes, and Farfan has 19 in 450 minutes.
(Who has the most fouls in the Champions League? Well, that notorious bruiser Mark van Bommel of Bayern has 20, Malouda of Lyon has 20, Cannavaro has 20, and Ballack has 23. Top kicker is Brandao of Shakhtar Donetsk, a Brazilian striker with 24 fouls. Shakhtar went out in the group stage, so Brandao will soon be overtaken by Ballack.)
The defender who marked Adebayor in the first leg, Da Costa, a lanky young Portuguese, is out with flu, so PSV may be vulnerable at centreback.
Overall, this is a very worrying game for Gooners.
They know that the first leg was a low-scoring game and the second leg is likely to be similar. And they also know that in Eindhoven their two best shots were by Rosicky, who is out with a groin injury. So it could be a cagey game and we know that Ronald Koeman has already taken Benfica and Ajax to Champions League quarter-finals
And, of course, this is the last chance saloon in terms of silverware. When they went to Eindhoven., Arsenal could still win the FA Cup and the Carling Cup.
In the Philips Stadion two weeks ago, Arsene Wenger said, “From tonight we’re in a tricky situation because we’ll have to score two goals without conceding.”
That has not changed. What’s changed is that a goalless draw tonight guarantees the Gunners another trophy-free season.
LIVERPOOL play Barcelona at Anfield tonight and start with a 2-1 lead.
I reckoned Barca would beat them at the Nou Camp.
Liverpool’s defence was efficient enough to contain Man United till stoppage time at Anfield on Saturday, and I now expect them to go through, alongside Chelsea and Manchester United.
Big money keeps the big clubs on top, of course, but what makes football interesting is when the medium-sized clubs give the big boys a run for their money.
That happens quite a lot in Spain, where Getafe and Seville have shown what hungry, energetic teamwork can achieve
Seville beat Barcelona 2-1 on Saturday night to go top of La Liga and Barca finished with ten men after Giuly and Zambrotta were sent off within 16 minutes of Seville’s second goal .
Zambrotta’s cross from the right had given Ronaldinho a header for 1-0 but Marquez was too easily beaten by Russian striker Kerzakhov for 1-1, and Daniel Alvez made it 2-1 with a free-kick on the hour.
Deco and Thuram had not made the trip and the latter is doubtful with a calf injury.
Frank Rijkaard went 3-4-3 two games ago, playing Messi on the left, Giuly on the right and Ronaldinho down the middle in a Copa del Rey second leg against Real Zaragoza where they were a goal down from the first game.
In the middle, with four big defenders obstructing him, holding him, and kicking him, Ronaldinho is still inventive, still brave, still motivated. Anfield is massive for him, and for troublesome comeback kid Samuel Eto’o, who is desperate to start.
On what I’ve seen lately, Barca are much better without the bigger players in midfield : Motta, Edmilson, Marquez. They look more fluid with the little guys, Iniesta, Xavi and Deco.
You have to fancy Liverpool because even a 1-0 defeat will put them through on away goals. And keeper Victor Valdez looks dodgy of late.
That game is on ITV1 tonight and it might be a helluva contest.
If Liverpool can beat Barcelona twice they will think they can beat anybody and win the European Cup again.
The holders will need a giant performance from Thuram, a night of creativity from Ronaldinho, and some razor-sharp finishing by the fireball from Cameroon. And Eto’o has not had enough match practice to be sharp. In days long past we always talked about stars “turning it on” and maybe the top talents will turn it on tonight.
Arsenal beat Porto 2-0 and Chelsea should do the same, following a 1-1 draw in the first leg. If Porto could not stop Henry and Hleb from scoring, I can’t see them stopping Drogba and Lampard.