Beating PSG was great, however we cannot be deemed serious contenders till we repeat this against a similarly tough opponent away from home.
Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Atalanta, Manchester City and now Paris Saint-Germain, this is the list of our toughest fixtures so far and I’m glad to say that we’re still unbeaten in all competitions this campaign. The most recent one played was of course PSG, who we impressively saw off at the Emirates on Tuesday night. Goals from the in form Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka at the height of our dominance in the first half was enough to see us claim our first 3 points of the new UCL season.
After the win, pundits and fans alike have started to deem us contenders for the UCL title come the end of the campaign which is understandable given the form that the Parisians were in before the encounter. Before the game PSG were unbeaten in all competitions, scoring 21 goals while conceding only 5 in what has been a strong start to the season and start to life without Kylian Mbappé.
The win was impressive indeed, however before we cannot be placed as serious contenders alongside Man City and Real Madrid until we prove that we can get these sort of results against similarly difficult opponents away from home. There’s a reason why Champions League games away from home under the lights are a different gravy, the home support and massive occasion will get the home team playing at a 110%, which will require elite mentality, bravery and one hundred per cent concentration as well as good football to get a win especially at some of the toughest away grounds in Europe.
We already saw last season how we lost probably our two toughest away fixtures in the round of 16 and quarter finals against FC Porto and Bayern Munich respectively. Fine, we did eventually knock out Porto at our home ground,however the importance of getting those results away from home were plain to see when we crashed out of the competition due to a toothless performance against Bayern at the Allianz Arena.
Getting the job done away from home is what separates the best from the very best which is exactly what we’ll have to do consistently to be deemed title contenders, being labelled that now is premature and will be putting too much pressure on the boys which is something we wouldn’t want this early in the campaign.
We still have tough fixtures away from home this campaign against Inter Milan, Sporting CP and Girona. Let’s see how many points we can get from those games before we decide whether we’ll be genuine contenders or not, tll then how many points are we most likely going to win in those aforementioned games above?
KENNETH BENJAMIN.
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It’s worth noting that this year’s Champions League is almost an entirely different competition to last year’s. We now have a league phase which isn’t the same as the group stages like in the past. Of importance is getting the points. Nobody can say for sure how this new competion will fair relative to the previous one.
By the way,I don’t have the official stats but I think Arsenal has one of the best away records in all competitions. But it matters less because you don’t face the same opponent home and away like in the previous edition of the Champions League. Winning against so called difficult opponents gives you exactly the same number of points as winning against the minnows.
For me Arsenal cannot win champions league still lacking that bit extra quality that’s needed to get over the line but definitely contenders for prem league pushed city all the way last season expecting if everyone stays fit to lift the prem league trophy!
strange, because Arsenal’s away form is so strong in the PL it is what could see us to the title
also the new CL format means that there are no dead rubbers for Arsenal
i am confident in Arsenal’s away form, some how we seem to defend better away from home with crazy number of clean-sheets, that continued this season only conceding to Man C on all our away travels
so I disagree, Arsenal away form is a strength, not a weakness
Well, I chose not to be too critical of our team. Experience is a valuable assets to win UCL as a coach and players.We also need a good front man-CF which we don’t have at the moment. The Boys are gradually gaining the experience.
We can aspire for UCL glory next season but if the team reach semi final this term it would be a good attempt. The team is in the right direction but realistically, winning UCL this edition is almost impossible.
I think Arsenal needs to prove they can beat one of the top teams. Neither Atalanta nor (somewhat surprisingly on the night) PSG turned out to be near that description if we’re honest.
Like others, I really do doubt Arsenal are equipped to win the CL currently, but a “reasonable” showing within the new format would be OK, I think.