What Next For Arsenal In Champions League Group Stage?

By Finn Laister-Smith | Oct 22, 2015

Following two unexpected defeats in the Champions League on match days one and two, nobody expected the Gunners to pull off any sort of result against Bayern Munich at home. Olivier Giroud once again hugely impacted the game from a substitute role. Mesut Ozil continued his great vein of form by finishing off the German Champions at the tail end of the match.

Arsenal only held 27% of possession during the match and had eight less shots than their opponents, but luck was on their side and they snatched two goals in the last fifteen minutes to take the three points. In a game that was contrary to most Arsenal home matches, they defended resolutely and their attackers broke with speed only when the break was on.

Manuel Neuer made a few brilliant saves – namely one against Theo Walcott, which was definitely a contender for save of the season – but he could not keep the Gunners out for ninety minutes. There was a point in time at the very beginning of the season where they were struggling to finish off their chances. Now, for the time being, it looks like Arsenal have hit top goalscoring form.

52 percent of the game was battled out in midfield against the German champions. In big games like that in the past, Arsenal have been found out as weak in the middle and exploited by physically dominant midfielders. There are multiple cogs that go into the emerging, newfound Arsenal midfield that knows how to battle with teams.

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Francis Coquelin has become the new backbone that the Gunners needed to give their creative midfielders liberty to roam. That dynamic worked perfectly against Bayern. Mesut Ozil was all over the pitch, making passes and creating space for others with the ball at his feet. The third midfielder, Aaron Ramsey had a relatively quiet game on the stat sheet, but he did a job that Arsenal midfielders all struggle with at times – he defended when it was necessary.

Now that they have their first points on the board, Arsenal have to take a serious look at their objectives for the rest of the group stage. Olympiakos, their main contenders for second place, lie three points above them at the moment. The Gunners have two away matches in their next three against the Greeks and Bayern Munich. Both of which are very tough games. The home fixture against Zagreb should be a victory, which will leave them on six points. So where do they go from there?

After every game where Arsenal play like this and it works, fans always say that “if they play like this, they could win the league”. No matter how well a team plays, playing Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena is never an easy game. However, Arsenal could make a big statement in this year’s group stage and break their duck of always losing matches away to Olympiakos on match day six.

The Greek champions have beaten Arsenal in the home tie of that fixture the last three times they have played, which is ominous if qualification comes down to that game. Arsenal would need to put in a carbon copy of their performance against Bayern Munich if they want to take three points.

Olympiakos are not as strong of a team as Bayern in possession of the ball. When they played Arsenal, the possession was quite similar to the game on Tuesday – except the roles were reversed. The men from North London spent far too much time on the ball, became complacent and did not play with enough speed in attack. If Arsenal can utilize the fact that they are away, and counter with success like they have done in recent fixtures, they stand a chance.

Next: 10 Worst Signings Under Arsene Wenger

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