The first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals saw the title pretenders suffer their first defeat of the season. A team whose manager Arsene Wenger in time past was branded “a specialist in failure” by Portuguese tactician Jose Mourinho due to Arsenal’s uncanny ability to fail when it mattered the most but football critics blasted the Portuguese at the time and made a case for the French coach by bringing his invincibles achievement to the fore of the discuss to proof Jose Mourinho wrong forgetting that at the time of Jose’s assertion, Chelsea had played a whole season, losing just one game, conceding a total of 15 goals and keeping 24+ clean sheets out of 38 games, something that has never been recorded in the history of the English premier league and the top 5 leagues in the world, which comprises of the English Premier, the Italian Serie A, the Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga and the French League 1.
Though Wenger is no longer an Arsenal manager, the team keeps proving Jose Mourinho right as they haven’t won a major trophy since the 2002/2003 English Premier League season, where they were unbeaten, except for the FA Cup, which many do not consider as significant. Arsenal, who people have tagged the best to lift the UCL trophy this season alongside number one favorite Barcelona, suffered its first home loss and defeat in this season’s UEFA Champions League.
Despite being the favorite to progress to the next round since they had beaten the PSG in a group phase 1-0, coupled with their show of determination when they made light work of Spanish Giants Real Madrid.
Also Read: Arsenal Defeats Real Madrid in the Champions League
The London side went behind within the first 4 minutes of the encounter and found it difficult to score as former Ac Milan homegrown goalie, Donnarumma saved the few shots that should have gone in if faced by average goalkeepers. The French side’s victory is major proof that their win against current English Champion Liverpool in the Round of 16 wasn’t a fluke, as they had the best part of the possession.
Related: UCL Round 8: Separating Elders From Men
If the Gunners were to be eliminated after the second leg, it wouldn’t be their first, but it would be very painful for their fans as the team has looked very solid in the attack, midfield, and defense since the commencement of the season.
Recall that with goals coming from Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz Arsenal beat PSG 2-0 in the league phase of the Champions League without breaking a sweat, so let’s wait and see whether they would prove the critics wrong by turning around a disappointing first leg when they go to Paris next week Wednesday to play the second leg. In other news, 6 times UEFA Champions League winners Barcelona, will take on 3 times winner later tonight.
