They think itâÂÂs all over in Nigeria. One Nigerian Gooner â named only as michotech49 â posted on uefa.com: âÂÂArsenal we win am very sure by the grace of GodâÂÂ.
Arsene Wenger was a little more circumspect about facing Barcelona, the runaway favourites to win the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League, again, saying: âÂÂWe want to knock them out. Is it difficult? Yes. Is it possible? Yes.â The coach was more sanguine than most fans whose reaction is probably best summed up by the headline on The Gooner which read simply: âÂÂThe Barcelona suicideâÂÂ.
In trying to Google The Gooner, I actually typed âÂÂThe Gonnerâ which could be an omen or what the great Sigmund would call a Freudian slip. Anyway, moving swiftly on, discontent among online Gooners has reached such a pitch that one supporter dared ask: âÂÂOh, by the way, what does Pat Rice do?â Come on, Arsenal fans, this is hardly the time to be turning on your own legends. The general mood might be summed up by Brad who posted: âÂÂO cruel footballing gods why hast thou forsaken Arsenal?âÂÂ
If Arsenal are to win, they might require divine intervention. WengerâÂÂs Plan A is to take on Barcelona at their own game â assuming his players can get the ball off them. Plan B is â well there is no Plan B really. Unless ArsenalâÂÂs defence becomes significantly more rock-like between now and February, he canâÂÂt play the kind of spoiling game with which Jose MourinhoâÂÂs Inter beat Barcelona last season. He doesnâÂÂt even have the defensive steel in midfield to play the 4-5-1 that steered Arsenal to the final in 2006. This is especially ironic because one tactical innovation with which Wenger won a lot of silverware early on at Arsenal was the use of defensive screening midfielders like Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit.
No tie is over before it has started â though even Lenny Kravitz might feel his most famous song doesnâÂÂt apply in this instance. But WengerâÂÂs predicament underlines the competitive ruthlessness of this tournament. A poor 45 minutes against Shakhtar and an off-night in Braga have made ArsenalâÂÂs journey to Wembley significantly more arduous than it needed to be.
The other ci risiamo ties â thatâÂÂs Italian for âÂÂhere we go againâ by the way â are Lyon v Real Madrid and Inter v Bayern. Neither quite match Alien vs Predator in the 'clash of the titans' stakes, but both have intriguing sub-plots. The ties encouraged so many players, clubs and owners to join in remembrance of things past it might have been sponsored by the estate of Marcel Proust.
Will LyonâÂÂs remarkable run of success â in three ties against los Blancos they have won at home and drawn in Madrid to progress â be ended by old boy Karim Benzema? Lyon keeper Remy Vercoutre didnâÂÂt sound that confident when he noted: âÂÂLast year they were complacent. They still havenâÂÂt got over it. We know weâÂÂre not favourites.â He has a point. On balance, with Mourinho in the dugout, Real donâÂÂt seem destined for a seventh successive exit in the last 16.
Bayern v Inter is the drawâÂÂs greatest gift to European football. Louis van GaalâÂÂs Bayern are slight favourites but the big question hanging over the tie is whether Rafa Benitez will be coaching the Nerazzurri in February (at the time of this blog being published, we are awaiting confirmation of reports the Spaniard has left the club - ed).
The World Club Cup win (below) has done him some good but the mood in Italy was captured by the Gazzetta dello Sport headline: âÂÂInter rules the world, so what next?â BenitezâÂÂs broadside about lack of trust and broken promises on new players won him some support from fans â one poll found most wanted the coach to stay â but owner Massimo Moratti deflected the speculation saying: âÂÂFor the moment I donâÂÂt want to talk about Benitez.â The coachâÂÂs outburst recalls his famously indignant observation over new signings at Valencia: âÂÂI asked for a sofa and they bought me a standard lamp.âÂÂ
TottenhamâÂÂs return to San Siro to take on the other half of Milan prompted Rossoneri coach Massimiliano Allegri to remark: âÂÂAll the teams who have made it this far are good but it could have been far worse. Tottenham score freely and have quality up front, but they always give something away at the back.â Still, Allegri â and his defenders â may already be having nightmares in which they are carved apart by the lanky, jinking, blurred form of Gareth âÂÂIncredibaleâÂÂ.
Chelsea and Manchester United may feel reasonably satisfied with their draws, but Carlo Ancelotti and Sir Alex Ferguson know their ties are far from done are dusted. Copenhagen are efficient, especially at home, and are almost the polar opposite of Spurs. What they lack upfront they make up for at the back, conceding just five in Group D, not bad for a team that played Barca twice. And Chelsea will need their first choice central defenders back to face Senegalese bombshell Damien NâÂÂDoye, who looks like a young Didier Drogba.
They think itâÂÂs all over in Schalke too. On Bundesliga Talk, a writer with the poetic name of Dylan Thomas suggested: âÂÂSchalke couldnâÂÂt have had an easier opponentâÂÂ. The key, Thomas correctly suggested, was whether Schalke could dominate midfield. Although the hype will focus on RaulâÂÂs return to Spain, the more intriguing clash is between two famously workaholic coaches. Felix MagathâÂÂs reputation â exemplified by his nicknames âÂÂSaddamâ and âÂÂQualixâ (The Torturer) â is well known but have no doubt ValenciaâÂÂs Unai Emery has already spent hours dissecting SchalkeâÂÂs group games in forensic detail.
Claudio Ranieri doesnâÂÂt think itâÂÂs all over. Mindful that Shakhtar won the last ever UEFA Cup and very nearly did the double over Barcelona in this competition in 2008/09, he was at pains to point the stylish football the Ukrainian champions play.
Roma have become the kind of team that can lose or beat anyone depending on their mood and that may be RanieriâÂÂs biggest concern. ShakhtarâÂÂs wily coach Mircea Lucescu will be scheming for an away goal at the Stadio Olimpico. The return in Donetsk may just help Lucescu steer Shakhtar into the last eight for the first time. ShakharâÂÂs Romanian full-back Razvan Rat (spare us the âÂÂany relation of Rolandâ gags please) was certainly bullish: âÂÂI want to quote a famous chess player to say that to become stronger one must play against the strongestâÂÂ.
It seems appropriate, then, to round off with a Mourinho-esque observation from another famous chess player, Bobby Fischer: âÂÂGenius. ItâÂÂs a word. What does it really mean? If I win IâÂÂm a genius. If I donâÂÂt, IâÂÂm not.âÂÂ
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