To be exact, it is not all done and dusted, but for Arsenal not to qualify automatically for the knockout stages of the Champions League, and instead fall into the intermediate knockout round for teams ending up between ninth and 24th place, Arsenal would have to lose their final Champs League match significantly, and the six teams below them all win significantly in the eighth and final round of this bizarre competition part one.
It would be a long and tedious affair to go through the matches of each of these clubs, especially on the morning after another fine performance, but Bayer Leverkusen, (to take one example), would have to win their final game 3-0 while Arsenal lost by the same score, And the fact is that in their final game, Arsenal play Girona away on 29 January.
So here is the Champions League top eight after this penultimate round…
| P | W | D | L | A | GD | Pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 2 | +13 | 21 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 11 | +15 | 18 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 2 | +12 | 16 |
| 4 | Inter Milan | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 16 |
| 5 | Atletico Madrid | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 15 |
| 6 | AC Milan | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 15 |
| 7 | Atalanta | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 4 | +14 | 14 |
| 8 | Bayer Leverkusen | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 13 |
| 31 | Girona | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 11 | -7 | 3 |
Not only does that look unlikely given that Girona will perform well against Arsenal, as they are seven points off qualifying for the Europa league, but it also doesn’t look likely given their form in the Spanish league this season where they sit eighth. Girona are in fact 18 points behind Real Madrid who top the table (as they are generally required to do under Spanish law). In fact Girona are closer to relegation than they are to qualifying for next season’s Champions League via their Spanish League position.
So although it is never over until it’s over (etc etc), it is pretty much clear that Arsenal will qualify for the Champions League knockout stages without having to play in the extra special added-on knockout round which will (as like as not) include the mighty Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris St Germain.
Meanwhile, Manchester City are teetering between total elimination and the play-offs. As they are technically an English club, I might say I wish them well, but I don’t. But perhaps we can leave this competition for now by saying that Arsenal have scored 14 and conceded two in Europe this season, which I’d say is pretty good. And of course, as the song says, Kai Havertz scores again.
Possession was 62% for Arsenal, and the opposition didn’t have a single shot on target. Plus we had the debut for Nathan Jerome Chatoyer Butler-Oyedeji who was born in 2003), joined Arsenal aged eight, and became a professional with the club aged 18. He was on loan to Accrington Stanley and Cheltenham Town in recent years, and this was his debut.
And given his goal, I would also imagine that he might get some time on the pitch in the final game, as well as be invited to enjoy the warm weather training camp that Arsenal plan to go on, to give the players some respite from the schedule thus far.
It is a shame then that after such a jolly night, The Telegraph should choose this moment to play the old game of pretending Arsenal goals don’t happen, headlining their report of this match (at least at 0745 GMT on the day after the game) as Arsenal 2 Dinamo Zagreb 0. I mean I know journalists regularly leave games early, but not checking before the write-up is pretty ludicrous. Given it is the Telegraph I suspect a punishment of time in the stocks will be forthcoming.
But the paper does redeem itself to some degree reporting Manchester City’s performance under the headline “From cruising to chaos”. And there is quite a bit of ManC talk in the media with the Telegraph going with “Manchester City accused of ‘tapping up’ as Real Valladolid threaten legal action over Juma Bah.”
They continue, “Spanish club vent fury at the prospect of losing teenage defender and lay blame squarely at the door of champions and player’s agent.”
Ah well, we would expect nothing less.
So now it is Wolverhampton Wanderers away on Saturday at the rather unusual time of 3pm. They are 17th in the league above Ipswich only on goal difference and yet have scored only one goal fewer than the highly acclaimed (by the media) Nottingham Forest. But with 51 goals conceded they have the worst defence in the league.
It could be fun, and we shall look further into their affairs as the game approaches.
It’s interesting to compare the top three performing Champions League teams from both Spain and England.
I’m sure many will say the Spaniards are more exciting to watch but given Athletico, Real and Barca have conceded 34 goals between them to date, I’d suggest that it might actually be a little nerve wracking supporting them. Compare that to the mere eight goals conceded by Liverpool, Arsenal and Villa and it shows a considerable difference in defences. Having said that, the 59 goals scored by the Spanish compared to our 38 is also a considerable difference.
Strangely though, Girona who sit 31st in the Champions League table have conceded exactly the same number of goals as Barca (2nd). By comparison though, it should be said that Girona have also only scored 4 goals compared to Barca’s 26!
Hi Mikey,
I too have been a supporter since the 60’s , my first live game being a 3-2 win over Burnley in 1964, the era of Baker, Strong and Eastham (fondly missed). I would watch the first half from the clock end and walk past the west stand to watch the second half from the north bank, happy days.
I see that, like Tony, you like to look beyond the numbers, this is the main reason I return to “Untold”.
Some years ago I created a model comparing results of the current season with the corresponding fixture the previous year. Having recently purchased a new iPad, and wanting to learn Apple numbers, I have recreated it for this season
Tony, I would like to share the results of this model with you, I think you will find it interesting. If you can provide an email address, the aisa.org failed, I will forward some initial stats.
Mikey & Mike P
My first game I think when I was 7 late 50’s and it was against Leyton Orient , most memorable game 4 each against Tiny Totts ( can’t remember which one ) got separated from my father and watched the game where the players came out . Had to get picked up before the end of the game , we were losing 4-2 at the time ,walking back to the car we heard 2 enormous roars still didn’t know the score till I read the papers the next day .
George Eastham was my favourite player , I played a lot of football and because GE was left footed practiced so much my left foot was as good as my right
Bloody hell lads, I never realised I was one of the younger regulars on Untold. 🤣
My first game at Highbury was 1960, the season when Spurs last won the league. We lost 3-2.
I can still recite the team:
Kelsey; Wills, McCullough; Ward, Snedden, Docherty; Clapton, Groves, Herd, Kane, Henderson