UCL Match Day 1: Arsenal v FC Braga; Match Preview
Da Group Stages Return
“It’s a short way to go to Wembley, but a long way to go to the final,” – Bacary Sagana on Arsenal’s start to their 13th successive Champion’s League appearance.
Arsenal start this most recent foray into the Champion’s League at home against the runner ups to the Portguese league, Braga. Braga finished just behind eventual league leaders Benfica and aren’t no slouches as they beat both Celtic and Sevilla in the playoff rounds to reach their first proper Champion’s League excursion.
For the side from Portugal though they may actually feel right at home at the Emirates. In the 1921 the club paid the ultimate homage to the North London side and changed their green and white stripes to the red and white kit of the Gunners from London. Their appearance is so like Arsenal that they have been dubbed, Minho’s Arsenalistas (Arsenal from Minho).
The portuguese side lead by Domingos Paciencia, come into London looking to make history. They say all the right things about the quality of their opponent but have their eyes set on coming into London to score the upset.
It should be hard however. They are with out first team keeper Quim until the new year as he went down with an achilles injury in pre-season. Additionally, starters, Eldersen and Leandro Salina are both serving one match bans for infractions suffered during the playoff stage.
Additionally their domestic campaign has gotten off as well and their last weekend result was 2-1 loss to Porto.
They head to England with a history of not doing to well. Their most recent trip was in 07/08 for the UEFA cup group stages where they drew against Bolton 1-1. In two previous trips to London they have played Spurs and lost both times.
The Gunners are Champion’s League regulars. They’ve been here for 13 years straight and have made it out of the group stages the last 10 years in a row. Last season saw them go undefeated at home until the 2-2 draw against Barcelona.
Their finals aspirations are known and Wenger believes he has the right ingredients this season to make a run for it. And he may be right. The biggest addition for this tournament is Maraoune Chamakh.
In 19 CL appearances Chamakh has five goals. He keeps the ball well and his selfless play has already endeared him to Arsenal players and fans alike. Last year it seemed to be his coming out party as in the last few games Bordeaux played Chamakhs name was on the score sheet more times than others.
The Champion’s League is the one piece of silverware that has eluded Arsene Wenger and he would like nothing more than to add it to his cabinet and say he had a fruitful career at Arsenal. But the road is long, as Sagna states, and it is alreadt frought with some difficulties.
Injuries are cropping up and no less than 5 first teamers will miss the match. Diaby suffered an ankle injury against Bolton and his diagnosis remains unclear. He is basically game to game. Vermaelen is running with a niggly ankle injury and will likely be back for the EPL action this weekend. And of course, Van Persie, Walcott, and Ramsey are all out.
So with that there are probably some nerves that we may lack some oomph but in reality, I am not sure that this isn’t a match our reserves could win. Not to be too bold because as we learned last season, you could have the horrible opening like we did against Standard Liege.
But Arsenal are on a monster run at home. They’ve only conceded one goal at home in their last 9 matches. They are scoring on average of 3 goals a match and alot of this is without regular players in the lineup. Additionally, it looks like Captain Fabtastic has finally awaken and looks like he has something to prove. With him in the lineup against this team I suspect, as soon as he sees his opening he will shred them.
How this Should Play Out:
I don’t expect Arsenal to sit back and be cautious. Playing cautious cost Tottenham a 2 point lead yesterday. I think we will come out flying and looking to signal our intent. After lacklustre performances by other teams Arsenal will want to show that they are a team to be considered when thinking of CL finalists.
Possible Starting XI:
Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Clichy, Squillaci, Koscielny, Fabregas, Song, Wilshere, Rosicky, Chamakh, Arshavin
Braga: Felipe, Silvio, Rodriguez, Miguel Garcia, Vardinho, Luis Aguiar, Alan, Lima, Paulo Cesar, Matheus
Injuries/Suspensions:
Arsenal: Diaby (ankle) Vermaelen (achilles) Walcott (ankle) Van Persie (ankle) Ramsey (ankle) Bendtner (groin) Frimpong (knee)
Braga: Quim (achilles) Eldersen (Suspended – 1) Salino (Suspended – 1)
Broadcast:
US: ?????
UK: ?????
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YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal: 3
Braga: 0
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