Outgunned and disunited
Let’s start with Arsenal whose chances of eliminating Barcelona, as you know, I wrote off even before the first leg. Colleagues tell me otherwise: “They’re still in it.” And the always confident Nicklas Bendtner declared late on Wednesday night: “Who said they weren’t human? Maybe for you. In the last 20 minutes we put them under real pressure.”
In your dreams, Nicklas. You should have acknowledged that your team, so rightly lauded in England, was treated to a master class at the Emirates. Cesc Fabregas must have thought he was back learning in that soccer school he attended in Barcelona.
I can’t remember being so impressed by ANY team as I was in that first-half. The European champions were magnificent and the final scoreline was a travesty of justice. The BBC should have been in the position to cancel my flight tomorrow as a waste of money in pursuit of a lost cause.
It’s as well that the weekend results have kept Arsenal in the title hunt because I expect them to be blown away at the Nou Camp. How can the absence of the suspended Pique and Puyol – I didn’t even think it was a penalty, never mind a red card offence – make up for missing Fabregas, Arshavin and Gallas? And Wenger must be worried he’ll need to deal with other injuries as well.
Perhaps, they hope, Walcott will again trouble Barcelona with his undoubted pace. Pity he doesn’t seem to have much of a football brain to run alongside it as Chris Waddle continually maintains. Arsenal? No hope.
So, what of Manchester United? As soon as they scored in Munich, with barely a minute played, I thought they’d taken a huge stride towards the last four. Now, I’m not at all certain. That’s partly due to ‘what happened next’ but also because of what I witnessed on Saturday.
First, in Germany, they were made to look ordinary by an average Bayern side, albeit one that moved to the top of the Bundesliga at the weekend. It reminded me of the lessons taught to United by Barcelona last May in Rome. If you concede possession too easily, you’ll get hurt. Arsenal couldn’t get the ball off Barcelona, United simply gave it to Bayern.
Of course, the away goal is important but you don’t need to tell that to Louis Van Gaal’s team. They’ve scored 11 goals in winning three of their four away games in this season’s Champions League, four of them at Juventus.
And, then, there’s the Rooney factor. Now I read yesterday the injury prognosis of ‘two to three weeks’ may be pessimistic. He MIGHT feature at Old Trafford. I don’t believe that. If anything, I think the official forecast may be optimistic. And, boy, is he missed.
Aside from their customary late surge, I thought United were flat, anaemic against Chelsea and the defeat seriously jeopardises their prospects of winning an unprecedented fourth successive league title. Berbatov did not adequately ‘fill in’ for Rooney’s absence.
Giggs, Scholes – you shouldn’t start with both of them – and Neville all looked like tired old men, the latter two like snarling, nasty old men. Scholes could have been sent off.
If United don’t play with a quick tempo on Wednesday night, if they don’t go with Valencia AND Nani to support Berbatov, they could easily go out.
* Alan Green is chief football commentator with BBC Radio 5 Live
