Morning.
Has the dust settled after Wednesday? Do you even get dust after beating Real Madrid home and away? Perhaps it’s branded differently. Lose a game, the dust settles. Win in Madrid and London, and a fine, shimmering powder falls upon the mother earth. Or something. I dunno.
You see, we don’t have a lot of precedent for what we’ve done and where we find ourselves. This is just the third time that Arsenal have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, and while I’ve been fortunate the previous two have come during the lifetime of Arseblog, it’s not a regular occurrence.
The first time was in 2006, when we beat Juventus 2-0 at home (Robert Pires pulling off the perfect slide tackle on Patrick Vieira to help set up a goal for Cesc Fabregas), before drawing 0-0 away. After that it was 2009 when a 1-1 draw with Villarreal away (who had Pires at that point), was followed up by a 3-0 home win against the Spanish side, with goals from Emmanuel Adebayor, Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie.
We went all the way to the final in 2006, we lost our semi-final against Man Utd in 2009. Since then we’ve had a Europa League semi-final which we lost to Atletico Madrid, and a final in the same competition when I don’t need to scratch too hard at old wounds, but suffice to say it did not go well for all kinds of reasons.
After reaching the quarter-finals in 2010, beaten that time by Barcelona, we then embarked on a run under Arsene Wenger of seven successive eliminations in the Round of 16:
2011 – Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona : Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal (agg 4-3)
2012 – AC Milan 4-0 Arsenal : Arsenal 3-0 AC Milan (agg 4-3)
2013 – Arsenal 1-3 Bayern Munich : Bayern Munich 0-2 Arsenal (agg 3-3, away goals)
2014 – Arsenal 0-2 Bayern Munich : Bayern Munich 1-1 Arsenal (agg 3-1)
2015 – Arsenal 1-3 Monaco : Monaco 0-2 Arsenal (agg 3-3, away goals)
2016 – Arsenal 0-2 Barcelona : Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal (agg 5-1)
2017 – Bayern Munich 5-1 Arsenal : Arsenal 1-5 Bayern Munich (agg 10-1)
It’s quite funny to look back at that now and not think some of that generational trauma played into how people felt about taking a 3-0 lead into the second leg at the Bernebeu. All the talk was about Real Madrid’s history, their track record, their ability to produce the ‘remontada’ (but in the end they got nada), but I also think Arsenal fans bear some serious scar tissue from this competition.
The way, over the years, we contrived to lose in the Champions League is actually quite remarkable. I remember the game away at Bayern where we nearly produced a comeback of own and they were desperately trying to keep the ball in the corner to run down the clock. And just a few years later, they beat us 5-1 home and away and we were a shambles.
Losing 4-0 away at Milan and nearly bringing it back in the second leg (don’t chip it van Persie!), before getting an ‘easy’ draw for once but managing to blow it against Monaco after Olivier Giroud had a nightmare night in front of goal. It was both infuriating and increasingly tedious as time went on. Then we dropped out of the Champions League, spending 2017 until 2023 in the Europa League or even with no European football at all.
I think we suffered some poor exits in Europe under Mikel Arteta too, and that only added to that sense that as a club, the institution of Arsenal, we were somehow fated to under-perform on the continent. So, as we prepared for the game on Wednesday, there was something niggling in the back of my mind that made me worry we’d find a way to do what we’d done in the past.
I found it so interesting to hear the manager’s answer to a question in the post-game press conference about whether or not these two games vindicated his methods. He said:
It’s reassuring. I’m here to experience these kind of games and to go through them. I know that some days you’re going to win, some days you’re going to lose. So, be very critical with yourself tonight. There are things that we can still do much better and I have to help the team to do better. The biggest pride is when I look at them and I talk to them, how convinced they feel and that’s been part of our job and of the coaches, and that’s why it’s a joy to work with them.
‘How convinced they feel’ stood out to me, because we saw that on and off the pitch. Declan Rice spoke to TV after the game and was unequivocal, saying:
We had so much belief and confidence from that first leg that we had enough to come here and win the game. We knew we were going to suffer, but we knew we were going to win. Yeah, we had it in our minds and then we’ve done it in real life.
I believe he believed. Not just him, the whole squad. Because you can’t play the way we did over two legs without that. I spoke to Ryan Hunn about this on the Arsecast yesterday, but I strongly believe that Arteta’s public declarations regarding our injury issues (and other problems) have been key to this. Not once, unlike some other managers, did you hear him complain. Instead, he presented those issues as challenges that had to be overcome, and as on opportunity for some of his players.
You’d forgive him if he felt like leaning into the bad luck, but his message was always about how we had to find a way. And at the Bernebeu, with an 18 year old at left-back, Jakub Kiwior at centre-half, and Mikel Merino playing as a striker, we deservedly beat the team who has won the Champions League more than any other. We overcame our own issues, and Arsenal’s European history which, for a club of this size, is not what it should be.
If you’d asked me at the start of this season if Arsenal were more likely to win the Premier League or the Champions League, I would have 100% gone with the former. I felt like we were a team who knew what it takes to do that, having been involved in two title challenges in the last two seasons. Our track record in Europe, and this being only our second season back in the Champions League, wouldn’t have given me much hope about the latter.
Yet here we are. These wins over Real Madrid have been, to some extent, transformational. I think we can now look at Arsenal as a team that can win the Champions League. I don’t just mean because we’re in the semi-final this year and anything can happen in cup football, but because they have demonstrated an ability to produce performances that are required at this level. These two games elevate us from a team that could possibly win CL if everything went our way, to one that can realistically win it and should be considered contenders – not just this season.
And this is key. I can’t tell you for sure that we will win it, I don’t have that crystal ball unfortunately, but it’s about building some European aura. As Arteta said pre-game:
A lot of clubs have built their history by doing it many times, trying many times, sometimes failing, sometimes being successful. Last year, we had an experience and with that one, we want to be better this season, and apply that to reach the semi-finals.
Who knows what is still to come this season, but one of the cornerstones of Arteta’s time at Arsenal has been an ability to learn quickly. Not always, and no manager, no club, is without mistakes along the way, but look at the evidence in front of you in the shape of this European campaign. To me, at least, that looks like a team that is more mature, more durable, more dogged, smarter, more streetwise, more capable at this level – and it’s one that isn’t even at full strength for all kinds of reasons.
Finally, I also think it’s important that we view different competitions as distinct when we try and analyse a team. Arsenal being below par in the Premier League has been a frustration this season, but it doesn’t mean we’re terrible all of a sudden. The Champions League shows you that. It wasn’t long ago we weren’t in Europe at all, or crashing out early from the Europa League because of our inexperience and naivety. Now, we’re licking our lips at a semi-final with PSG that we absolutely deserve. That’s progress, and we should take it as such (while I’m obliged to say that obviously we have to look to improve in the league too).
Anyway, the Arsecast is below if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, and we’ll have an Ipswich preview podcast on Patreon a bit later on.
Finally finally, a quick note for those of you who are subscribers to Charles Watts’ podcast, somehow he managed to delete the entire show (!), and has had to start again – so please check out the new links to resubscribe. Details here.
