A late run in the Champions League, a rallying final few performances from an Arsenal side everyone expected to crash out of the competition in a valiant failure in Athens, only to end up drawing Barcelona in the next round.
A collective gasp withdrew from anyone wishing Arsenal well when that draw was read out. ‘Ooof! Well, that’s that, then’.
Year after year of finishing fourth in the league meant that Arsenal would always qualify and play at the level they know they should be playing at. Year after year of second-placed finishes in their Champions League groups have meant meant that Arsenal would always find themselves facing tough opposition in the last 16.
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Invariably, the group winners are the better sides in the competition, and Arsenal would draw them season after season, falling at the first knockout hurdle and rationalising that they had a tough draw and were essentially beaten in December when the draw was made.
Every year Arsenal reach the level they are supposed to reach and then bow out. It’s as if they feel like their job is done by reaching the last 16, pocketing the money and heading home.
But football isn’t about that. In many ways it’s about punching above your weight. No team has a right to win a trophy, and every team striving to win it has a chance. If Arsenal are content with their last 16 place, they’re content with doing the bare minimum every year.
The 2006 side that reached the final in Paris is the perfect example of a team punching above its weight. Arsenal beat Real Madrid in the Bernabeu with a defence of Eboue, Toure, Senderos and Flamini at left back.
That side had a swagger to it. Quite a few were players who had been part of the invincibles side only a few years earlier. It was quite natural for those players to feel like they could win games against big teams – after all, there’s a certain arrogance that must come from being literally unbeatable.
But Arsene Wenger’s side of a decade later is starting to regain that mentality of being able to beat the big teams.
Although they won’t have the arrogance and the self-belief that comes from being ‘invincible’, Arsenal’s players now at least have the belief that they can beat big sides. Look at how they disposed of Manchester United this season, how they beat Manchester City last January and even Bayern Munich in their Champions League group.
All of that came from solidity at the back and clinical precision on the counter attack. Arsenal were unplayable against United, they got their tactics right in that Manchester City game, and against Bayern they got some luck – though if it weren’t for a world class save from Manuel Neuer, it could well have been 3-0.
So Arsenal are starting to get the mentality back. They’re starting to believe that they can beat the best.
It might be problematic for them that their last 16 tie with Barcelona is over two legs and not one. Beating Bayern was wonderful, and they needed it – had they not won, they’d be out of the Champions League. But they took a thumping in the away leg, and would have lost the tie if it were a two-legged knockout game.
Arsenal still have a long way to go if they’re to get back that mentality they showed in beating Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal in 2006 on their way to the final in Paris. But they’re showing signs of being able to mix it with the big teams.
The game against Manchester City on Monday night will show even more evidence of whether or not they’re capable of beating the big teams put in front of them, but what will be even more important is the attitude.
The invincibles team would have taken the Barcelona tie in their stride, just as they did with Real Madrid in the first knockout round that year. So while everyone watching the draw reacted as if a featherweight had been drawn against a heavyweight, Arsenal need to believe that they too are heavyweights. It’s a mentality that will make all the difference.
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