Foot & Soccer Soccer Match Reports, Football News 
Morning.
It’s one other one the place I stand up, make espresso, take a look round for the Arsenal information, and attempt to keep away from the precise information, which is simply too profoundly silly and miserable for my liking lately. Even with a diminished social media footprint, it’s exhausting to not see the headlines.
I don’t suppose we’re presupposed to be bombarded with that a lot data very first thing within the morning. The evolution of humankind noticed us stand up with the daybreak mild, ease into the day, go about our morning enterprise/ablutions, earlier than in some unspecified time in the future some lad would arrive with tales from the neighborhood.
“Over yonder village, they are saying a wolf has eaten the sheep and maybe a small canine”, he may say.
“Oh nicely,” previous me would say. “That’s robust for them. I’ll now are likely to my crops.”
I feel it’s additionally honest to level out that I might have been lifeless of scurvy or one thing, as a result of I’m not superb at crops or gardening, though I did plant a tree final yr which is doing very nicely thanks. It’s acquired branches and shit, and it’s getting taller, which is all the time an excellent signal.
Anyway, the purpose is we get up each day and switch to telephones. Or, to present them their actual title: Transportable Dread Machines. There, in your very hand, is all the knowledge in all of the world, and we open them up and instantly see tales to make sure we begin our day with an excellent dose of DOOOOOOM. It may possibly’t be good for us.
“What did you could have for breakfast?”
“Espresso. Eggs. And a few toast slathered with existential dread.”
Anyway, I simply wanted to get that off my chest. I hope you’re all doing okay wherever you’re right now.
Arsenal can usually be a distraction from that, however this season we’ve been coping with our personal Arseistential Dread. The Premier League marketing campaign isn’t what we had hoped for, we didn’t do ourselves justice within the cups, however at the least we now have the joy of the Champions League and the video games towards Actual Madrid to return. It’s exhausting to not suppose again to 2006, the final time we performed them.
When this draw was made, the conversations have famous our vital damage issues, and the standard that Actual Madrid have. Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham … what a problem they’re going to supply our defenders over the course of two legs. Little question about it.
Again in 2006 although, we had damage issues galore, notably on the again. That ‘makeshift’ again 4 of Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure, Philippe Senderos, and Mathieu Flamini was hardly one to instill a substantial amount of confidence forward of two legs towards a Actual Madrid facet containing, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Raul, David Beckham, Guti, Roberto Carlos and plenty extra. And but … soccer is the strangest of video games (past some type of slippery Tornado involving members of the aristocracy who’re all sporting rabbit masks, the weirdos).
180 minutes+ performed. 0 objectives conceded. Andrew Allen despatched me a video of the Highbury recreation yesterday, the standard of the footage is poor, however holy crap, how this one ended 0-0 is anyone’s guess. Typically a 0-0 may be the dullest recreation attainable, different occasions not a lot. That is a type of occasions.
The important thing distinction between then and now’s that you would, to some extent at the least, offset defensive worries with the standard of Thierry Henry up entrance. These lads on the again dig in, be obstinate, journey your luck somewhat alongside the way in which, after which probably the greatest gamers on the earth provides you an opportunity to make a breakthrough. Which he did in some fashion within the first leg. We don’t have that participant for these video games, though on paper we now have a defensive platform which is way superior to the 2006 model.
I additionally suppose Actual Madrid, if they’re weaker someplace, it’s on the again, though it’s not precisely a weak spot per se. Barcelona lead La Liga having scored 71 objectives which conceding 25; Actual are second having scored 57 and conceding 26 – in order that they lag somewhat manner behind their nice rivals by way of firepower, though they’re equal on factors. Maybe probably the most attention-grabbing La Liga stat is that Atletico Madrid, only a level behind these two, have conceded simply 18 objectives within the league this season, and with out the ahead line we’d ideally need, perhaps it’s higher (in as a lot as that phrase works on this context) for us to face Actual Madrid.
I feel it simply means these ties are going to be intriguing by way of method and techniques. I’m certain Mikel Arteta will likely be requested about it at his press convention this afternoon as we begin to look forward to Chelsea on Sunday. He’s acquired loads of time to consider one of the simplest ways to make progress, however we do produce other fish to strive earlier than these video games come alongside.
As ever, we’ll have all of the press convention tales on Arseblog Information later, and a preview podcast for you on Patreon too. For now, have an excellent one.
