5 Truths: Arsene Wenger survives, Barcelona are the world’s best
Arsenal survive, Barcelona demolish Celtic and Bayern have a rising star. It’s five Truths from Tuesday’s action in the Champions League.
Arsenal outclassed, but have they somehow passed their toughest group test?
On another night Edinson Cavani would have had a hat-trick and the Gunners would have been hammered. Arsene Wenger would have been chastised for dropping Petr Cech and not selecting Granit Xhaka and Olivier Giroud from the start.
But they escaped with a fortunate draw and must now quietly
fancy their chances of topping a group including the French champions,
minnows Ludogorets and Swiss outfit Basel.
They will have to improve greatly on this showing but given the
complexion of the whole game, this is a fantastic start. But it does beg
the question…
Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez celebrates scoring their first goal with team matesReuters
Why does Arsene Wenger keep doing it to himself?
Are we sure Arsene Wenger loves Arsenal? The Frenchman was keen
to reiterate this very fact in a pre-match press conference, but his
team selection hinted at self-sabotage. They escaped with a valuable
point, staving off the #WengerOut brigade for now, but the reality is
they did not deserve it. Wenger appears incapable of appeasing the fans
and although Ospina impressed, the manager's decisions seem to flirt
with mutiny every single season. Still, perhaps they can build on this
fortune to top the group this time around and avoid an otherwise
inevitable elimination in the last 16.
No ifs or buts, Barcelona are the best side in the world in this mood
When a plan comes together in football, it doesn't get any
better than watching Barcelona. Goodness knows who will stop them on
this form, but nobody will fancy visiting Camp Nou after watching Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez utterly gorge on a poor Celtic defence. Barca will hit better sides than Celtic for seven this season, and Pep Guardiola's Manchester City
won't fancy what could confront them if MSN are on form. They are
probably the best front three in the history of football, and the seven
goals they scored on Tuesday sends out a message to the rest of the
Europe that Luis Enrique's delightful Barca side are hell bent on a sixth European title this season.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their first goalReuters
Celtic have to learn the art of defending in Europe
Maybe they just don't have the players to cope at this level and
there is obviously a huge financial disparity in TV revenue from
playing in Scotland and Spain, but something suggests Celtic did not
need to lose by seven goals if they had been better drilled. They would
have been better shutting up shop and leaving with a 3-0 defeat rather
than trying to be adventurous and leaving themselves open at the back.
Neil Lennon devised a plan to frustrate Barca four years ago when Jordi Alba
struck in the closing seconds in a 2-1 home win before Celtic applied
the same tactics in a 2-1 victory over the Catalans at Celtic Park a
fortnight later.
Fair enough, you need a fair bit of luck to deny Barcelona at
any time in the season, but a better away performance would not have
left them heading back to Glasgow contemplating their heaviest defeat in
Europe, much of which was self-inflicted by their own poor play in
failing to keep the ball. Celtic are a young team and are a
work-in-progress under Brendan Rodgers, a manager who must prove to the wider world he can construct a side that does not crumble at such outposts. The former Liverpool coach must learn as much from such nights as his young players.
Joshua Kimmich impresses again
Joshua Kimmich showed, once again, why he is so highly rated, with an excellent performance at the Allianz. In the absence of Philipp Lahm, he found himself in his preferred midfield position, and though Rostov were compliant opponents, the manner in which he passed the ball showcased a natural authority. Similarly, the two goals he scored – one a flashing header and one a poacher’s slide – also bore the hallmark of a total footballer.
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