Arsenal’s European Adventure: Play-off Teams Reveal Themselves.

By: jg | August 3rd, 2011

As everybody else continues to wonder how the heck Arsenal are going to find a positive end to the transfer season and manage to get a positive start to the season, an important set of games regarding Arsenal’s future in the Champions League finished today, and we finally have a clear look at who Arsenal will be facing to get into the CL Group Stage.

chart shizzz

After the dust settled, we now know that come Friday, the date of the draw for the play-offs, we will know that Arsenal will play one of the following clubs: Rubin Kazan, FC Twente, Udinese, Zurich, or Odense (from Denmark). Considering we are a seeded team, the draw could have been much uglier, but thankfully our otherwise spotless participation record in the group stages mean that we get to avoid the likes of Bayern Munich and Lyon. Now, that doesn’t mean Arsenal get to slack off against these 5 clubs, though- heaven knows we as fans have been induced into coronaries after the team has failed to defeat a side they were resoundingly expected to beat. As such, we are still heavily favored to beat any of the 5 teams but failure to do so would induce massive fan disappointment and anger, and would likely mark the beginning of the end of Wenger’s reign at North London- and frankly, I don’t think ANY of us want this set of events to occur.

So where does this leave us? Well, let’s take a quick look at the 5 teams we could possibly face, in alphabetical order:

Odense
Next to Zurich, probably the team I’m least worried about in the play-offs. Danish side Odense haven’t made the CL Group Stage in recent memory, and they aren’t even that strong for Denmark- FC Copenhagen has been kind of like the Danish Barcelona up there, winning everything and anything in the last 1-2 years, and are a much better side than Odense, at the very least. Their only notable player is Manchester United flop, Eric Djemba-Djemba, and other than that, have no real names to be worried about. They have a pretty small stadium for a European wannabe, nearing a little over 15,000 in capacity, which I don’t think would be enough to create an intimidating atmosphere that would pressure Arsenal negatively. If we draw Odense, then I’m pretty sure we’d be almost guaranteed passage into the CL Groups- on the flip side, if Odense shock Europe and knock out Arsenal, then I’m pretty sure all hell would break loose over here.

Rubin Kazan
Gulp. Out of the 5, this is the team I least want to face come the playoffs. Rubin Kazan, in the last few years, have developed into a strong, united, defensive (including names such as Cristian Ansaldi and Salvatore Bocchetti) side that is very tough to break down. They won the Russian Premier League two years in a row, in 2008 and 2009, and still had strong finish in 2010, finishing 3rd and qualifying for the CL again. Also notable is that they faced might Barcelona in the two years they have been in the CL groups, and what do you know, have a positive track record against them- 1 away win, 2 home draws, and 1 away loss, with the loss being in their most recent meeting, when Rubin was already out of the running to qualify for the Last 16. In addition, Rubin would represent a tough away trip to Eastern Russia, where conditions would probably be hostile to a fragile Arsenal team. The fact that we have a far from clear outlook of our squad and our best players isn’t helping any matters, so I think Rubin here would be the team to avoid.

FC Twente
Another tough option, this time Dutch side FC Twente, who have just come off winning the Dutch SuperCup, beating Ajax in the process. Twente are a very well built side that won the Dutch league in 2010 and came extremely close to winning it this May, losing out by an inch to Ajax in the process. Their only loss this summer has been the sale of star playmaker Theo Janssen to Ajax, but other than that they have a good coach in ex-Belgium international Michael Preud’homme, a dees defense, and a couple of dangerous forwards in Luuk de Jong and Bryan Ruiz. On the plus side, a trip to nearby Holland would be better than a trip to Mother Russia, so for that reason I think Twente would be a better side to face than Rubin. Still, this Twente is a tricky side and so we have to be on our best to beat them.

Udinese
After the quite brilliant, all-around wide play of Udinese last season, they qualified to the Champions League after a couple of years of mid-table mediocrity. Unfortunately for them, they have sold a large number of their star player, including the headline grabbing sale of Alexis Sanchez to Barcelona. Besides that, they have also sold Gokhan Inler to Napoli and Cristian Zapata to Villarreal. Still, they have kept Di Natale up front, Kwadwo Asamoah in the center of midfield (for now), and their quite excellent full backs in Mauricio Isla and Pablo Armero (for now). They wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but I think if Arsenal don’t slack off and play to their best, they shouldn’t have massive problems with this tie.

Zurich
One of the other two breather sides, next to Odense, Zurich last made the CL Groups in 2010-11, but other than beating Milan, didn’t really do much. Finished 2nd in the Swiss Super League last season, behind Basel. Have no real standout player and I think wouldn’t pose a real threat to Arsenal.

So, there you have it. One of these 5 teams will face Arsenal for entry into the CL Group Stage. Which of them would you like to see? Have your say below.

Which of these teams would you want Arsenal to face?

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Category: Champions League, Poll

« How Late is Too Late in the Transfer Window? | Home | Arsenal get Udinese in CL play-off + Benfica preview »

Lio

It is starting to look like Arsene was playing hardball with Barcelona over Cesc and the reason he was holding on to Nasri so hard was for insurance. Same with Mata, had Farcelona coughed up the £40m Arsenal put on Cesc, Arsene would have gone out and bought Mata. I have no doubt.I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Wenger calls a meeting with Cesc and tells him he’s playing in the Champions League home opener against Udinese. That very next day, we will sell Nasri and use the money to buy a central defender, probably Jagielka but don’t rule out the possibility of Cahill.
And that will complete Arsenal’s transfer activity.
If Arsene manages to pull that off, it will have to go down as one of Arsene Wenger’s most brilliant transfer seasons ever. Not only would he have strengthened the team with the signing of Gervinho, but also kept one of the best midfielders in the world, got rid of a player who floated in and out of games, and used the insane sum City paid to buy an English center half.
I think we all might have to put the black scarves away for a few weeks after that. After all, nothing but the best is good enough for Arsenal.
Lio

udinese it is
FredJacob

Arsenal vs Udinese
Rico

Arsenal Vs Udinese
Alexinho

Fabregas appears to be training with the team--looking like he'll stay with the team--looks kind of scruffy though doesn't he
Rico

He was training yes but I saw an image of him sitting alone in the centre circle, not sure if it was after the training session or not. He was looking very lonely. I wouldn't keep bet on him staying yet.
JG

Barley back to Rangers on loan. Considering we are now one injury and suspension away from seeing Squillaci start for us, I'd reckon getting another CB right NOW is the most important need atm, more important than Joel Campbell or Mata.
Homey_Mills

It's funny how Bartley goes out on loan despite 47 total appearances for Arsenal, Rangers, and Sheffield United. Yet Jenkinson is about to be our backup right back, with only 8 appearances for Charlton to his credit.
Homey_Mills

I'll still list LB higher, and RB higher if Eboue is sold. In those cases, we're only one injury or suspension away from something that is the same as Squillaci. And yet there aren't even any rumors that we're looking at anyone there. Lovely.
Homey_Mills

Just wanted to share something funny about the blogging behind the scenes. The four of us can access the "admin" site, where we can upload drafts, edit blogs, and so forth. Anyway, while a blog is being written, it's listed in the list of blogs as being in draft status. While JG was writing this blog, he had a completely ridiculous title to it. It was a bit scandalous, to be honest. I kept hoping the blog would be posted under a normal title, and of course it was in the end. But I'll admit he did scare me a bit with that one.
Martin

I think I probably have some old drafts floating around on there, don't I? I know I had a post ready to go after the Mark Schwarzer transfer had become official, which obviously didn't happen, and I think I did a blatant Bill Simmons knock-off column "Season in Review through Kanye West lyrics," where I would match up a Kanye lyric with a player or event from the season and explain the connection. Both were every bit as stupid as they sound.
Homey_Mills

Yes, I do recall seeing the Kanye blog in the list of unpublished drafts. Of course the problem is, I'm not allowed to read the blog or post it either. So it just lingers on as an unpublished draft.
FredJacob

Members day training

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
James Bearclaw Lewis

I think Zurich is a bit swiftly dismissed here. I live in Switzerland half the year, and even though they are currently bottom of the league with (wait for it) 3 defeats in 3, they are still a decent team that have many players from the Switzerland team who played the final of the U-21 European Championship. Mehmedi was top scorer and would easily cause considerable problems to the unsteady Arsenal defense.
FredJacob

Unrelated topic

Jeffrey s father is peter's father only son who is Jeffrey
SJGgumby

FYI, interesting recap of the Arsenal practice today over at Gunnerblog. Or, so I hear - not that I read other Arsenal blogs.
Homey_Mills

What?!?! You read other Arsenal blogs???
FredJacob

lol
Gigi_man

Well, here we are now, entertain us Arsenal.
Like Felegy says, it is ridiculous, I d add even sad, that we are here, but we are so better go with it.
I voted for Zurich, because I like better something I ve seen, Odense seems to be a dream to face, but they have the "surprise element", me no like that.
On the other hand, like Rico says, we better pay more attention to our game, we look good and then we throw it all away, like the never ending story of de-focusing for the last minutes (seriously it is like the Panamanian team, I am doomed with both red shirts!), which is a defence problem imo, all over again, again.
We have to pray for the starters to be in shape and for the replacements to...stay in the bench? (I d love for them to shut me up, but seems that nobody in the team reads me so they dont know they have to shut me up...)
Felegy

Ridiculous that we finished so badly last season that we even have to talk about this....
Homey_Mills

Yes, but at least it showed us the areas we needed to address in the summer window. And then we went about aggressively trying to fix those problem spots. Errr... uhh... ok, forget that.
Felegy

I'm beginning to figure out that we think alike Homey....
Homey_Mills

It's scary, isn't it? Actually, the more that the club messes around year after year after year, doing nothing positive to build the squad, the more people there are who begin to think like we do.
SJGgumby

The team photo was postponed due to rain. So the media should be able to wring some more speculation out of this non-event.
satan

I hope my favorite team (Wisla Krakow) meet my second favorite team in the Group Stage (Arsenal)!!
Rico

Second favourite? how rude :)
Why would you want to see your favourite team get beat by your second favourite team?
Come on the Gunners!
satan

I don't care if they get beaten, it would just be a great match to watch
Martin

Get behind thee, Satan!
Lord-artem

Arsenal fans! Welcome to Kazan!!!
Orion

I think I'd prefer Bayern Munich to Rubin Kazan.. wait, maybe I don't. But knowing this team, we'd be up to the game against the Germans, and give a hearty performance a la Chelsea or Barca last season unlike a game against the Russians, where we'd take it as a stroll in the park and would most definitely struggle.
Rico

Know Arsenal's luck in the past, I doubt we'll get Odense or FC Zurich. Only last year we were in a draw after the group stages and who did we get.............. yup Barca!
I don't think we should worry about the team we play against, our main concern is how we play. The past two games we have been strong and forward going until the last 30 mins when we decide to throw it all away. If we keep the pressure going and keep attacked then I don't see these qualifying teams an issue. Not being disrespectful and no offence intended to these teams.
realityshowbuzz

thanks for sharing this information.....
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Homey_Mills

On a totally unrelated note, does anyone else ever get frustrated with misleading blog titles? I scan the blogs all the time, and I see these headlines that pose as real news. Then I read the article, and it's a bunch of nothing. Case in point. I just saw one saying "Wenger will green light Cesc's sale to Barca." Then I read the article, and it says we'll be willing to sell if they meet our price. Gee, you think? That's really big news that we needed to hear. But I guess they got their page hit.
Homey_Mills

It's funny how I always hear about the "dreaded trip to Eastern Europe." But I wonder if the teams in Eastern Europe consider a trip all the way to England as a difficult trip.
SJGgumby

Given Arsenal's relatively quiet stadium, pristine pitch and warm climate (compared to Russia), I'm guessing no.
Alexinho

So it's not just me! I've always thought the Emirates just sounded quiet when I watch on TV. The other day Arsenal-Liverpool (the one in which Eboue knocked down Lucas) was re-played on TV, and all I could hear was that chant about Luis Suarez.

I read that at the Emirates, it is "strictly forbidden" to stand in your seat. Don't know how well that's followed, but maybe that kind of thing makes a difference?