Morning all.
The Arsenal are in Germany this evening for a Champions League encounter with Bayer Leverkusen. Not that long ago, the German club went through a season unbeaten in the Bundesliga under Xabi Alonso and with Granit Xhaka in the side. Alonso was widely tipped to go far in management so when Real Madrid came calling the following year, he jumped at the opportunity to manage such a big club. He didn’t last long in the Spanish capital though. Neither did Erik ten Hag, the manager who replaced Alonso at Bayer – two Bundesliga games and three competitive games in total to be precise. Kasper Hjulmand replaced him in September last year.
When Alonso left, Wirtz, Frimpong, Tah, Adil, Hradecky, Boniface and Xhaka left too. As did Hincapie who has fast become a key player for Arsenal.
Bayer sit in sixth place in the league and needed a playoff round to progress from the league stage of this competition after finishing 16 in the table but they still a side not to be underestimated. Yes, PSG thrashed them 7-2 but they defeated Man City 2-0 at The Etihad and drew 2-2 with Newcastle.
Like ourselves, Bayer have a number of players ruled out through injury. TransferMarket show wingers Seghir and Tella, keeper Flekken, defenders Bade, Schick and Arthur and forward Vazquez all ruled out.
The training photos on Arsenal.com bring positive news as Saliba, Gabriel, Rice, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Trossard and Havertz are all involved in the session so it looks like just Merino and Odegaard will be missing from tonight’s squad.
August 2024 was the last time these two sides met which was in a pre-season friendly. Goals from Zinchenko, Trossard, Jesus and Havertz earned us a 4-1 win. Not that anything can be taken from that game.
This match, along with the home tie next Tuesday means something very different and is of more importance. A place in the quarter-finals is on offer. An opportunity to play one of Sporting CP or Bodo/Glimt in the semis.
Mikel Arteta:
When you start the second part of the campaign and you know what is at stake. We start to play games where you are in or you are out, there is no margin for manoeuvre, and we’re going to face a very difficult contest tomorrow against a really good team.
The only thing you can take is game by game and try tomorrow to be better than the opposition and earn the right to win. We always talk about that. Obviously we play so many games in different competitions – in the next three games we’re going to play in three different competitions, against completely different opponents. You have to adapt to that.
Ideally, we would batter Bayer tonight and make the home game next week an easier one but at this stage of the competition it’s about managing the two legged tie as well as the actual game. Something we did well last season. Until we came up against PSG of course.
The big boys will be back tonight and they need to put in a big performance. Be smart, be switched on and be clinical when opportunities to score arise.
Catch up in the comments.
Good morning Rico, just back.from the weekly swim and enjoying crispy bacon roll and strong coffee.
If tonight’s game is not actually a must win, it is certainly one we need to win.
No Odegaard so I suppose we’ll have Eze at number ten. I would like to see Havertz and Gyokeres start, they have the makings of an awesome twosome.
Thanks for the post Rico,.
Morning Rico, great post, an interesting read for me as I don’t know much about Leverkusen. I didn’t even know where there were in Germany but it seems they’re close to Cologne.
Can Arsenal continue their winning run in this competition?
All being well we should be able to as Leverkusen isn’t a very happy place atm if what I’ve read is correct. Their manager is under intense pressure to retain his job after a season of mixed results and the dull reassertion of the all conquering Bayern. I saw brief highlights of Bayern dismantling Atalanta in Bergamo on TV when I got home from work, their finishing left me envious because Arsenal rarely dismantle anyone anymore even though we create as many opportunities.
It was great to see Trossard and Calafiori back in training yesterday on YouTube, the morale is high and I’m cautiously confident of a promising result this evening. Let’s hope that Martinelli has his Champions League scoring boots on…
LG I’m not at all in favour of sending Myles out on loan next season, he may have missed the boat in regards to appearances this campaign (so far) but that can quickly change as we know so well. Ethan should still be with us and I don’t want to be bemoaning the absence of Myles as well next season if Lady Luck buggers off.
There’s no certainty about the business we may or may not do this coming summer although we’ve been linked recently to a couple of mature Bundesliga players who Arteta has shown an interest in previously. Not sure how true those links are, could be an agent ramping up interest in his clients whose contracts expire this summer?
I’d much rather go for young, squad bolstering talent that we can access through smart scouting and contacts à la Mosquera.
Limey, I thought previously that Joe Cole wasn’t a media blimp like so many on MSM but he showed his true colours during that FACup draw so now I will disregard everything he says like all the other anti-Arsenal wanker pundits.
Morning Cicero, Kev, all.
Any win would do me.
Thanks Kev, me neither but Google does. Lol
Dev, I used to have, way back when, 5 moggies and a Labrador, watching them interact was hilarious, they were all unintentional comedians.
I agree re MLS, especially as Calafiori’s fitness isn’t reliable. Why is it we seem to collect fragile players so much.
Thanks for the preview, Rico.
The one they’ll miss big time among their absentees, I think, is Schick, who’s had an excellent season so far. His hole in the starting lineup is very likely to be filled by Martin Terrier, who is a very good player, though. He drew a blank in his first season in Germany because his Achilles did a “Koscielny in Madrid“ on him at the start of it, when just he was finding his feet there, but he’s a smart player, not particularly strong or fast, but very gifted technically and with a great talent for picking the right pocket of space at exactly the right time – which has made him so far a scorer of great goals, rather than a great scorer of goals, as Charlie G. used to say; our problem tonight being this tendency to score his goals in “big” games.
I happen to be able to catch glimpses of Bundesliga sometimes, thanks to my Canal subscription; I find it boring because of Bayern’s dominance, but that aside, the teams play open football, which make games not unpleasant to watch for an absolute neutral. I don’t know them better than the next Arsenal fan, but I’m quite sure they’re not a bus-parking team, our forwards should get more time and space to express themselves; this game might be the opportunity for Gyö to shine on the big stage in particular …
Anyway, looking forward to watching this; I love cup nights … well, evenings!
I want Myles to stay too, Kev; I just can’t get my head around why he’s not been given any minute in midfield already this season; there were games lately when Martin Z., as well as Declan, to a lesser degree – could barely walk. But what do I know, eh?
COYG
No comments , big match nerves or my computer playing up again ? could be one or both or even operator error .
We need a strong efficient display tonight get a win by a couple of goals and then back to our place next week and complete the job .
Now in the real world , who knows what we will get . we have the capability to play out of our skins or struggle to put two passes together .
Lets just hope that it’s the former
And as I posted , all the other comments magically appeared.
Apparently we are interested in Julian Brandt a twenty-nine year old attacking midfielder from Borussia Dortmund, is contract expires in the summer so we can get for free. His current value is put at £25 million by Transfer Market. I guess if his wage demands are reasonable and he doesn’t expect a big signing on fee he could be a bargain. Yet I’m surprised that Arteta, in particular, is keen on a late twenties player. Perhaps there’s some truth in the rumour that Norgaard is unhappy at his lack of game time and might want to leave in the summer, so Brandt could be his replacement.
Potter could be that Rico’s man who can waved his magic wand.😉
LG, I don’t disagree with you there regarding subbing off Zubi and Declan when they can barely run all I can imagine is we’re usually only one goal in front in those scenarios and Arteta is risk averse as we know. The tragedy is Myles missing out twice recently to promote his midfield credentials to Mikel and gaining his confidence. I suppose it’s the few occasions he’s been caught in transition when playing in midfield from his left-back spot last season, maybe it’s his recovery speed when in those situations, all that said I still wish he’d been given more minutes, but what do I know ami.
Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Rice, Eze, Zubimendi, Saka, Gyokeres,Martinelli.
Yep, Kev, I do think Mick positively hates it when we give the ball away there.
He may not like too much how easily (foolishly??) he picks bookings either, and that I agree with (I’m well aware how young he is, but I think the days of Arsène’s old saying about accepting to pay the price for a youngster’s mistakes are definitively over and done with, because of the number of wins required nowadays to win titles).
Classic lineup, not surprising since Kai isn’t fully fit yet – he’ll come on, though, either for Eberechi, or Gyö, depending on the scoreline and/or the performances of the day. I’d have loved to have Noni picked on the left, for once …
COYG
Good morning all. A rainy one down here on the edge of the world. Thanks for the preview, Rico. I was in attendance for that 4-1 friendly thumping of Leverkusen in ’24. Meant a lot to me, as I haven’t been able to get a ticket for the Em’s since, not for love nor money. However I am grateful that our streaming packages down here are relatively inexpensive, so I can partake albeit remotely along with you all.
Shick is decent striker but our Will will keep him quiet. Sorry to see the way his countryman was treated by the Igor the non gentle giant.
Evening guys.
Predictable starting 11. Hopefully they’ll get the job done well.
Potter, please let me know if you have continual problems.
Stuart, our subscriptions here are ridiculously expensive if one wants to try and watch all comps. 3pm kick off are a no no.. legally anyway.
Be good to see Kai get on the pitch he lit up from the age of 17.
Lg, Martinelli might have got the nod as he’s been scoring goals in this competition.
Yeh, I know, Rico. I am blessed in that respect, and fortunately when I am in the UK I can stream the 3pm kick offs using a VPN. One of the benefits of living down here.
White back on the bench is a boost.
No messing from the ref with that booking.
I tried the VPN route Stu, had no joy. You’re certainly fortunate not be ripped off.
Andrich will be off if he commits one more foul..
Marti would have deserved to add that one to his tally, Rico … a great move it was, too.
Otherwise, we’re much too pedestrian, aren’t we? Which doesn’t keep us from too many poor touches, poor passe btw. I have rarely (never?) found Bukayo that undewhelming, am I the only one? Hope nothing’s wrong with him …
I’m the same here, Stu. For a decent fee, I have access to … pretty much everything. All of English competitions, the 3 European ones, Bundesliga, some Ligue1 games, Liga Portugal, La Liga, even Championship games, or again … Segunda Division, and for some reson Deportivo is quite often on, which means I’ve been able to watch Charlie Patino a few times …
Only Italian football I can’t see anything of.
COYG make it 1-0 to The Arsenal at least
* passes*
Caught napping there…
It was Lg, would have been the perfect start. Now we need to up our game..
Our passing has been off.
Havertz for Eze hopefully
Timber is having a stinker…
shame but it seems we have the second alternative
Think we got away with it tonight..
Yep, Rico we got away with it. And, are we not having a good season with VAR?
They are good footballers, those Leverkusen boys, well set up and well drilled, so a draw away, especially as we couldn’t get into gear ourselves is a good result.
Agree Stuart, thought we were pretty average.
As for the penalty, well, had it been given against us I’m sure we’d all be up in arms.
A goal each, nothing else to be said.
As so many of my school reports said ” must do better”.
Mine said the same funny enough..
Ha! Cicero, like your namesake you have a way with words.
We might think of signing Valverde. What a third goal. Sumptuous.
I particularly dislike the popular terms “winning a foul” or “winning a penalty” but the latter is the only way to describe Madueke’s achievement. As Rico said earlier, if that pen was given against us we would have been furious.
I have other thoughts on tonight’s game but I’ll save them for Rico’s match report, I hope to be a little calmer by then.
Just a word or two for consideration, Arsenal out Arsenaled by Bayer at a corner.
The referee was a peach. Bayer should have been down to 10 men on 4 minutes.
Anyway, they don’t like it up ‘em Mr Mainwaring.
Also Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City all lost so it’s not all bad…
Afternoon Rico and all.
Didn’t see the match as it means I have to purchase another subscription, but a draw is much better than a loss
Poor performance, positive result. However, it seems to me that Bayer is more dangerous away than at home. Another goal conceded from a corner.
Morning guys, new post up.