*cleans off cobwebs from blog…sends Spiderman away*
After taking a self-induced sabbatical blogging leave like Pep Guardiola due to official duty, I’m back to doing what I love, as the Gunners are odds on to face a daring trip to the feared Allianz Arena with one foot away from the UEFA Champions League.
The weekend was a classic case of what might have been as the team that vanquished Arsenal from the FA Cup, Blackburn Rovers, struggled to get anything out of a fixture against Millwall in last weekend’s quarterfinal match. To top it all off, they would face this season’s FA Cup surprise package, Wigan Athletic, if they manage to get past Millwall in the replay.
Manchester City on the other hand, awaits the winner of the Manchester United and Chelsea replay coming up in Stamford Bridge pretty soon.
Despite the glooms of the FA Cup, Liverpool gave me and many Arsenal fans out there reasons to smile as the unbeaten, unstoppable and red-hot Tottenham (*yawns*) activated the world-famous self-destruct button to allow the Reds grab all three points.
As Arseblog rightly stated, Hugo Lloris was invoked by the spirit of Manuel Almunia’s ghost, and trust me, that was a pleasurable sight watching Stewart Downing blasting the ball through that bloke’s legs to an unguarded net.
From an Arsenal perspective, Wenger must be gnashing his teeth in his failure to get Ajax’s Jan Vertonghen when he had the chance. For what it’s worth, Vertonghen was available when he opted for a calamity like Andre Santos before he was snapped up by Spurs.
Oh well, that’s football – you sign some, you lose out on some.
The investigations made after the alleged missile thrown at Gareth Bale in the last North London Derby has gained some ground, as Thomas Flint, an Arsenal fan, will appear in court after hurling a banana at Bale.
In football, a few players have their lookalikes – Fabio most certainly looks like Rafael, Petr Cech looks like James Blunt, Sami Khedira looks like Milan Baros and Gareth Bale looks like a _____ (fill in the gap).
However, tossing a fruit at the bloke was a poor piece of judgment from Mr. Flint, as the banana was best suited to be in his belly rather than being hurled at a professional player. We really need to kick racism out of football, like the way Abou Diaby kicked ________ in the 2007 Carling Cup final. *coughs*
With the football world firmly focused on tonight’s Champions League fixture between Barcelona and AC Milan, many would hope not to see any mysterious penalties or red cards for the visitors but Arsenal fans on the other hand, will be anxiously waiting for their team to put up one hell of a show against Bayern Munich in Bavaria.
If it’s any consolation, Arsenal lost miserably at home to Inter Milan a few seasons ago but a Thierry Henry-inspired hat-trick saw the Gunners run away with an historic 5-1 victory in San Siro. Unfortunately, we have Olivier Giroud, not that goal-crazy, highly technical, classy, swaggerlicious French legend with a bronze statue in our ranks.
For reasons best known to Frankenstein, Lord Voldemort and the Biker Mice from Mars, Arsenal’s stalwart, Arsene Wenger, has stated that his team can beat Bayern Munich,
“There have been a few wins by Arsenal in the Champions League that we are all very proud of. We just have to convince ourselves that we can do it in Munich as well.
“Yes, the chance is small, but the chance makes the impossible possible.
“That would be a great credit for our team if we do it. We have to try to achieve it.”
As a thoroughbred Arsenal supporter, I’ve seen my club defy the odds in European football – the amazing run to the 2006 Champions League final that saw the Gunners oust juggernauts like Real Madrid and Juventus, the Thierry Henry-inspired away victories in Italy against AS Roma and Inter Milan, the exhilarating 2-1 win over Barcelona, the enthralling first half performance that saw the Gunners sweep three past AC Milan and the list goes on.
Arsene Wenger has urged his team to attack Bayern Munich and he also stated that a positive mindset is vital for the 90 minutes. The bookmakers have harshly tipped Arsenal at 40/1 to get a good result from Munich but scoring three unreplied goals against this imperious Bayern Munich side in the Allianz Arena, a ground where they hardly concede goals, will certainly be too much to ask.
As expected, a few Gunners have given their takes on Wednesday’s fixture and Gervinho believes that a miracle could still happen at Munich, even if it would be a miracle if he plays. -_______-
It’s okay to have faith though, even if it could be on a futile affair as well.
Elsewhere, a prominent member of the Bayern hierarchy, Uli Hoeness, revealed that the club tried to sign Arsene Wenger, but the manager remained faithful to his team unlike from French money-seeking mercenaries, Spanish home-sicklers, a Cameroonian with hairstyle no different from a tarantula and that bow-legged Dutch disciple that sold out for 30 pieces of silver.
An extensive match preview will be published tomorrow.
As I always say,
Sayonara.
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