In a brief distraction from the imminent closing of the transfer window, the Champions’ League group stage draw happened just now. It took an awful lot longer than seemed necessary, but luckily Arsenal weren’t stuck with some of the possibilities that had arisen.
Still on top
Arsenal remain comfortably in Pot 1 (before you all say “not much longer..”, Arsenal’s consistent qualification and reasonable performances have made it very difficult for us to drop out of the cream of the crop), and so avoided the likes of Real and Barca. There still remained the possibilities of Dortmund and Juventus, as well as difficult trips to Galatasaray or Donetsk. However, that didn’t happen either.
Group B
Arsenal were drawn into Group B, which looks like this:
Arsenal
Schalke 04
Olympiakos
Montpelier
Luckily for us, nothing huge to worry about. To be honest, if we don’t qualify from this group, we don’t really deserve to be in the knockout stages.
What can we expect?
On paper, Schalke are our biggest rivals in the group. They finished 3rd in the Bundesliga last year and boast Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Montpelier will represent a homecoming for Olivier Giroud, while Olympiakos are familiar faces, having drawn Arsenal 3 times in the last 4 years.
Montpelier are weakened by the loss of their star striker (that’s Giroud, in case you were wondering), and could yet have lost their captain to Arsenal by the time we meet them. Olimpiakos are always tricky customers, but Arsenal usually get past them. Schalke are the real problem, but again they should present no real trouble for Arsenal.
My prediction? We win the group. But then draw Dortmund.
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