The Luck of the Draw

I know that it was advertised as the worst possible draw for Arsenal. I know that it was the one that most fans were desperately hoping to avoid. I know that it almost certainly means that we’re out of Europe at the Round of 16 for the sixth year in a row, but for me, I’m not sure that I could have been happier with Monday’s Champions League draw than I am.

These are the games that we care so much about qualifying every year for. You cannot tell me how important that top four finish is for the club and the fans, and then complain when we face a team like Barcelona in the knock out stages. Sure, it would be nice to have played maybe Wolfsburg (who are no slouches by the way, and who could very easily have consigned us to the same fate over two legs as they did to United) but the stars simply don’t align that way very often in cup competitions, especially when you don’t take them seriously initially and consequently fail to challenge for top spot in the group.

Speaking from a purely personal (and therefore very selfish) perspective, I am over the moon to have the chance to see Barcelona live at the Emirates, and I imagine the players feel similarly. What must it mean to Alexis, to go back to the Camp Nou and have the chance to really take it to his old side, just a year after being humiliated at the Emirates by Monaco?

It’s exactly that which we should be focusing on here, I mean, we’re never going to win the thing anyway, and if you truly believe that we have a chance, then you have no choice but to play teams like Barcelona at some stage during the process. Aside from pride, I can’t really think of that many reasons why the round of 16 is so much worse than going out in the quarters or semi-finals either. Sure, those rounds sound great, and they’re something that a club like ours should really be achieving, but the fact of the matter is that it is probably of more practical benefit to go out early than not in reality.

It gets said every year, but another glamour tie against someone like Barca is win-win for the club. There is absolutely zero pressure to actually go out there and qualify, given that 99% of fans, myself included, already believe that we’re out of the competition. On the flipside, if we were to pull off a major upset, not only would it go down in the annals of recent Arsenal history, but would create unbelievable momentum for the rest of our season. Of course, as Arsenal fans, we’re all used to the annual kick up the arse that follows a narrow exit from the Champions League, and unless we get hammered in both legs (which is, I fully admit, a genuine possibility), I can only see these games as beneficial to our overall mentality this season.

Not only this, but with our squad already riddled with far too many injuries to list here (and with a seeming inability to estimate with any accuracy as to when they might be back), it may actually work in our favour to avoid going too deep into a third competition, given that I think we’re all hoping for a long run in the FA Cup, and potentially even a third win on the trot. One trip to Barcelona will hopefully not take too much out of the squad, but a few extra midweek games and travelling across the continent genuinely could.

In this season, we may well look back on two classic encounters with one of the world’s best sides, even though it put an end to our European ambitions, as the very thing that propelled the squad on and streamlined our fixture list to give us an advantage against Manchester City in the title race.

Be thankful then, that we did not slip to third spot in our group, consigning us to another set of matches, this time taking place on Thursday nights. That, prior to the victory against Bayern Munich, was looking a real possibility, and could have been disastrous for our campaign. Not only do you have the terrible decision of whether to truly ‘go’ for the competition and, as suggested, take the risk of burning out the game-changers in the squad, but expectations would be pitched at an entirely different level.

Fans can just about take being knocked out of the Champions League by some of the best teams in Europe, but I dread to think of the response that would follow an exit from the Europa version at the hands of, say, Beşiktaş, or Fiorentina (not that either is a particularly bad team, by the way). Better, as many have already said, to go out in a blaze of condemnation, than have to struggle in the other European competition. Why, then, is it so bad to have not met that seeming eventuality, and instead have the chance to do something truly spectacular?

I can’t wait for our two-legged tie, and I’m sure that many feel the same if they really think about it. The result is not an entirely forgone conclusion, after all, one of our greatest nights in recent memory came against the Catalans at the Emirates, and I’m sure that if you’re reading this you’ve already seen the stat doing the rounds on social media that Petr Cech has never conceded against Lionel Messi. Even if it is a foregone conclusion, so be it, this is the kind of tie that the Champions League is all about for a club like Arsenal, and if you think that reeks of ‘small club mentality’ then may I suggest that you’re unfortunately just not entirely in tune with our current reality.

After all, I imagine that United, Tottenham and Liverpool would have preferred looking forward to games against Barca than against FC Midtjylland, Fiorentina and Augsburg respectively. Don’t take our success for granted, and let’s enjoy hosting one of the world’s best teams at our place, and hopefully giving them a proper run for their money in the process.

Anyway, talking about big games, we’ve got a season defining one at the Emirates tomorrow, hope to see plenty of you there, and hope to see a classic Arsenal performance. We can always hope!