If Matchday One was supposedly a time for deep thought and catharsis for the English teams in the Champions League then this, two weeks on should be more of a critical inquisition.
Three out of four of the sides representing the Premier League in Europe’s elite competition lost on the opening Match Day with Gameweek Two starting in indefensible fashion.
If you rewind to last season then all four Premier League entrants – Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League in deplorable style as they were undone by savvier European opponents.
Both Arsenal and Chelsea were left embarrassed on Tuesday night as the two London giants fell foul to wily European opposition yet again.
Arsene Wenger’s men lost out almost comically to an Olympiacos side who have extended their own unbeaten run and compounded a second straight loss for the North Londoners in this seasons competition.
Perhaps if you were to isolate one moment which summed up Arsenal’s Champions league campaign yesterday it was the brilliance of Alexis Sanchez’s header that the South American dispatched to draw the game level at 2-2. Compared with the naivety of the defending thirty seconds later which allowed Alfreo Finnbogason almost free-reign of the penalty area to poke home what turned out to be his sides winner.
English fortunes in Portugal weren’t much better with Chelsea showing no signs of emerging from their slump in a 2-1 loss to FC Porto – the only real bright spark was the sumptuous free-kick from Brazilian Willian who brought the game back to 1-1 on the stroke of half time.
Mourinho was in the main largely happy with his sides performance but two glaring errors were punished by their opponents and much like Arsenal’s fortunes one slip up and a team at this level can take advantage.
It has left both teams with difficult routes to the knockout stage now, whilst Chelsea are sitting a little more confidently with three points and back to back games against Dynamo Kyiv. As for Arsenal no points from two of the supposed easier games in the group has left them with a mountain to climb especially with a double header with Bayern Munich to come.
If both or either club are to progress in the competition then harsh lessons have to be learned and built upon quickly in the coming months. This season has shown the Champions League can be a very unforgiving place and can disarm you at any given moment.
