Udinese v Arsenal - live! | Rob Smyth
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1 min Udinese kick off from right to left, and within 13 seconds Isla blasts a dangerous ball across the face of goal.
Arf! "Is there any truth to the rumour that if Arsenal go thru that Liverpool, because of their high Uefa coefficient, could appear in the Champions League group stages?" asks Jesse Chula. I thought this was a joke, but I now fear it might be serious. If this happens, we might as well just let Liverpool pick and choose their trophies, both in the future and retrospectively. Fancy the 1984-85 title? Sure, why not.
"How are you brother?" Is this modern football? Really? I was going to say that Garry Cook needs to take a long look in the mirror, but I suspect such an activity is the problem here rather than the solution.
Every loser wins, said 1980s visionary Nick Berry. And that might be the case tonight. Fenerbahce have been booted out of the Champions League because their hospitality buffets only stretch to 14 courses, not the 16 demanded by Uefa, and that means there is a spare place in this year's tournament. It has been suggested it may go to the play-off losers with the highest coefficient (Arsenal are second on that list behind Bayern Munich, who are already through), although this has not been confirmed by any of our snouts.
Team news
Udinese (4-4-1-1) Handanovic; Ekstrand, Benatia, Danilo, Neuton; Isla, Agyemang-Badu, Asamoah, Armero; Pinzi; Di Natale.
Subs: Belardi, Basta, Denis, Abdi, Pasquale, Doubai, Fabbrini.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Szczesny;! Jenkins on, Djourou, Vermaelen, Sagna; Frimpong, Song; Walcott, Ramsey, Gervinho; van Persie.
Subs: Fabianski, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arshavin, Chamakh, Traore, Miquel.
Referee Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal)
Preamble Hello. Playoffs are usually about contrived drama, yet tonight's match between Udinese and Arsenal has the whiff of authenticity: it takes us back to the good old days of European competition, when an unseeded knockout meant there was no safety net for the big sides and they could go out of Europe before the advent calendars were off the production line, never mind in the shops. Admittedly this isn't an unseeded knockout; the authenticity is a contrived attempt by Uefa to replace some of the authenticity that was lost because of an earlier contrivance, but the results are exciting so we're not going to complain.
Tonight Arsenal are in serious danger of suffering a fate even worse than going out of Europe: being dumped into the Europa League. It's all gone wrong for them in the last couple of weeks. They have a number of injuries, Samir Nasri has done one, the sky is falling in on Arsene Wenger, and some of their supporters can't find any foie gras in the Islington M&S. These points will concern Arsenal fans, but they should also stimulate them. If they get through tonight it will feel approximately 47 billion times better than it would had they eased past the champions of San Marino, and the lack of foie gras allows you to buy some corned beef and roll back the years.
There is also the fact that tipping points are generally made of adversity, particularly for Wenger's Arsenal. In 1997-98 a dismal December run of four defeats in six games sparked an unbeaten surge to the title; in 2001-02 an unlucky defeat at home to Newcastle was followed by the early dismissal of Gio van Bronckhorst at Anfield in the next match. Arsenal won 2-1, thrillingly, and weren't beaten a! gain in the league all season; in 2003-04, a tricky midweek tie against Italian opposition was followed by a trip to Old Trafford, Arsenal apparently fit for a mauling. Ruud van Nistelrooy missed a last-minute penalty, Arsenal manhandled him and used the fallout to foster a siege mentality that ultimately rendered them invincible.
Such a scenario is improbable this season, because Arsenal are a bit of a mess and Wenger, in essence a good man in a sport full of bad men, looks extremely tired. Yet it's far from impossible. Ultimately nobody knows anything, and at the very least Wenger deserves to be treated with far more respect than is currently the case, even if Arsenal do go out tonight.
They have generally had a great time of things in Italy, from the tragic Paul Vaessen's winner against Juventus to Thierry Henry shredding Roma and Inter. Even when Arsenal lose in Italy, they often win second-leg defeats to Sampdoria in 1995 and Roma in 2009 were followed by victorious penalty shoot-outs. A similar scenario is conceivable here, although Arsenal will have to play well to get even that far. For them, this is a proper test. Just as European football should be.
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