- Champions League teams: where do they stand
- How strong is the Portuguese League that Sporting play in?
- Arsenal v Sporting 8pm Wednesday, and the problem of accumulated minutes.
By Tony Attwood
So we approach the game with both quarter finals being played simultaneously, kicking off at 8pm. Arsenal are 1-0 up from their first leg, while the first leg in the other match ended Bayern Munich 2, Real Madrid 1
If Arsenal get through, it will be, I think, the first time the club has played consecutive semi-finals in this competition, having been in this position last year. Although that is a case of working from memory rather than looking in the book.
And indeed, you might recall last year, as having beaten PSV 9-3 over two legs, Arsenal beat Real Mad 5-1 also across the two legs, before losing twice to PSG 1-3 in the semi-final.
This is our third consecutive season in the Champions League after five years of toddling around in the Europa League. And the sad point to note is that in the last seven years in the Champs League before this current run, we never once got beyond the round of 16 (that was 2010/11 to 2016/17). We’ve made two finals this century – one in the Champs League and one in the Uefa and lsot both. It does seem to be about time for us to put in another appearance – and do a bit better.
In terms of the injuries, Arsenal are showing Merino as definitely out of course, and then with four players on 25%: Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori, Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber.
However, the Evening Standard thinks they know more as they report that “Declan Rice is also a doubt. He missed training on Tuesday with an issue he picked up in the defeat to Bournemouth over the weekend.”
The Standard, therefore, ends up with
Raya;
Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie;
Zubimendi, Norgaard; Madueke,
Eze, Martinelli; Gyokeres
with Odegaard, Calafiori, Timber, Rice all listed as doubtful.
I am not sure we have ever focused on The Football Faithful before, but they popped up on the website today so here is their selection…
Raya;
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapié;
Nørgaard, Rice;
Madueke, Eze, Trossard;
Gyökeres
The Metro weigh in with
Raya;
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapié;
Rice; Zubemeni, Havertz
Madueke, Martinelli
Gyökeres
Adding everything together that gives us 14 players – it felt like more as I wrote it out, but that is because of the way various players can pop up in different positions. So if you want to find someone completely different to liven the game up, it needs to be one not included in any of these line-ups.
Now, actually, I think having this level of uncertainty is a good move because it means the opposition really can’t be quite sure how Arsenal are going to play. And although, of course, we all know that the starting XIs are exchanged one hour before kick off, that doesn’t always tell the opposition who is going to play where, with the obvious exception of Raya.
Personally, I think Arsenal will go through, not least because they will be aware of their own statistics – as will the opposition. Arsenal have only lost one game in the last 23 home games in Europe – and that was the match against Paris Saint-Germain last season.
Here’s one other pointer: Arsenal have not conceded a single goal in 16 of their last 22 European home games. The total number of goals conceded in thos 22 games is nine. Now of course, I know we have played some very ordinary teams, but even so, the habit of winning is never one to be considered lightly.
Fingers crossed… have a good game, I’ll hopefully still be here tomorrow for a post-match review.
