For Arsenal fans, every Champions League knockout tie begins with the same fragile thing — belief.
13.03.2026 15:20
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For Arsenal fans, every Champions League knockout tie begins with the same fragile thing — belief.
PL clubs had a poor outing in the first leg of UCL R16, but not enough is said about the brutal schedule for PL teams. Playing three games a week is treated as normal, with the expectation to perform at the highest level. That’s a crazy ask and sets PL teams up for failure.
Arteta surely wouldn’t mind taking a draw back to the Emirates, but it is the individual actions from players that have frustrated him in recent weeks. Otherwise, given the effort we put in, I feel we are still in a very strong position.
As much as we are upset with the team’s performance, yesterday for the very first time I think we focused on game management, looking at the block of fixtures before the international break instead of trying to go hard and kill the tie.
This season has been Prime Barclays. When was the last time there was a title race (7 point gap with a game in hand) + race for Europe (3 points between 3rd & 6th) + race for Conference League (7 points between 7th & 14th) + a relegation battle (3 points between 15th and 18th)?!
Wrexham have a better football field than Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge.
Pickup football lineup selection from Arteta.
You have to hand it to Tottenham, they somehow manage to steal Arsenal’s thunder.
At this rate, Spurs might sack Igor Tudor, hire Sean Dyche, and still end up getting relegated.
A very good morning to Fabian Hürzeler.
7 more wins 🔴⚪️🏆
8 more wins 🔴⚪️🏆
Champions find a way, and so far this season Arsenal haven’t really been able to prove that. But after Chelsea (h) and Brighton (a), we can truly say that they have found a way.
Manchester City are going to drop points when we all least expect it.
9 more wins 🔴⚪️🏆
Manchester City are going to drop points when we all least expect it.
Eze’s first goal is an absolute work of art, and I don’t think enough is said about his first touch. He basically pulls off an alley-oop all by himself.
Hearing Thomas Frank was in the away end.
10 more wins 🔴⚪️🏆
Viktor Gyökeres has arrived?!
If Arsenal are going to win the rest of their league games, then we need to stop having pedestrian first halves. We have been wasting far too many first halves, and the result is that the game state ends up being decided by fine margins.
Can this Arsenal side finally break its own narrative?
gooneradi.substack.com/p/stomach-fo...
Probably a hint of positivity from last night was Saka ending his 15-game goal drought and his post-match presser. The tone and body language were definitely those of someone who is going to drag this team to the finish line. This could be the turning point we look back on in May.
Arsenal’s league campaign now hangs on Kai Havertz remaining fit and Martin Ødegaard somehow rediscovering his 22/23 version. Otherwise, the title could be well and truly done in the next three games.
The Gabriel–Raya mix-up felt like the League Cup final against Birmingham City in 2011 all over again. And for the very first time, I worry about what could follow, especially after we capitulated on all four fronts back then.
The sound of panic at the top.
gooneradi.substack.com/p/the-fragil...
11 more wins 🔴⚪️🏆
Every time we fail to seize a moment like this, questions resurface, about the manager’s judgment, about the players’ nerve, about whether this group truly believes it can go all the way in practice, when the margin for error disappears. That scrutiny is absolutely valid. It’s on them to change it.
An absolutely shocking game from Eze. We can talk about player profiling all we want, but that level of performance simply isn’t acceptable.
