UEFA Champions League – Match Preview: Arsenal versus Braga
So begins another Champions League competition and comes with Arsenal’s brilliant football. Wenger’s team initiates another journey to win their maiden UEFA Champions League title, something that they have been trying consistently for the past thirteen seasons. It’s been a total of five season since Arsenal won any silverware but the club’s fans have remained ever so faithful as the footballing philosophy that has been placed at the Emirates Stadium, has been a sight for sore eyes.
Despite playing some of the most appealing football on planet, European success has eluded Arsenal. Two seasons ago Arsenal made it till the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League but they were defeated by the finalists, Manchester United. In 2006, Arsene’s team made it to the final match of the tournament where a Barcelona, led by Ronaldinho ended up as winners in quite an eventful game. Coupled in perhaps the easiest group out of all the English teams, Arsenal are once again favourites to progress to the next round of the UEFA Champions League i.e. the round of sixteen.
In the summer transfer window, Wenger brought in two new defenders as William Gallas and Sol Campbell parted ways with the London club, the new comers include familiar names like Squillachi who has arrived at the Arsenal setup from Sevilla. Arsenal also invested in a striker, Maroune Chamakh to cater for the frequently impressive but equally injury prone Van Persie’s absence. Wenger has already outlined his belief that his current squad of players are good enough to go all the way as they have the right combination of experience, quality and talent. Such a boast has already made Arsenal, one of the favourites to win the UEFA Champions League this season.
Arsenal have always had a marvellous home record in the UEFA Champions League and once again the manager has emphasized the importance of keeping clean sheets at home fixtures. Gunners go into their Champions League opener on the back of a four game unbeaten run in the English Premier League, out of which the last three have resulted in wins for the Gunners. Braga managed to finish a point above Porto in last season’s Portuguese league and thus secured themselves a place in the UEFA Champions League for the 2010-2011 season.
In their last league match, Braga were beaten comprehensively by their rivals Porto by three goals to nil, thus they are not exactly in the right state of form going into this match against Arsenal. However, it will be naive to underestimate Braga as they do hold certain key players which can unlock a defence. In the qualification stages of the UEFA Champions League, Braga bested Celtic by a score line of four goals to two on aggregate.
In their last two visits to London, Braga have lost on both occasions to Arsenal and then to their rivals Tottenham. In the 2006 UEFA Cup, Hotspurs scored a comfortable victory over the Portuguese club. It will be the first time however that they are facing at the Gunners new Emirates stadium, a stadium which has earned raving reviews from top class managers and professionals throughout the footballing world.
Arsenal go into their opening encounter with a handful of injuries, Thomas Vermaelen, Diaby, Walcott, Van Persie are all absent for the Gunners due to different injuries. However, Sami Nasri is fit for selection while their captain, Cesc Fabregas is also fully fit to feature in Wednesday night’s encounter between the two clubs. It will be interesting to see how Braga line up, whether they play on the counter attack or on go full out for the win is still to be seen.
Arsenal are outright favourites to win this one, their home record is impeccable and Wenger will be marshalling his young guns to go all out for the win.
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