And that concludes Arsenal in the Champions League group stages.

Already qualified after 4 games, like Spurs last night, results tonight mean that the last game of the group stages is a dead rubber (sort of). Unlike Spurs, it is not because we are already out, but due to the group now being set in stone (PSG will not lose at home to the Bulgarian chicken farmers).

With one game to go, Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with PSG means we are almost certain to finish 2nd in the group.

If you take the two games between the best two teams in the group over two legs, you would struggle to argue against PSG ending up on top. There finishing did not quite live up to their play. A 3-3 draw with PSG going through on away goals, we would have no complaints.

The starting XI put out by Arsene Wenger was a little bit of stick, a little bit of twist. It was good for Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey to get another 90 minutes under their belt. It was odd Granit Xhaka did not start. And Alex Iwobi is now showing he maybe is not quite ready to start week in, week out.

A brilliant first goal for PSG, Arsenal got back into the game just before the half time whistle. It was never a penalty. It was a dive. Olivier Giroud took the penalty, and scored – he is the best penalty taker in the team.

A bit of hand bags before the penalty. Edison Cavani gave Aaron Ramsey a little slap. Ramsey had a little moan. It was nothing to moan about, he should moan up. On the other side, he he done what many a foreigner would have done and throw himself to the floor and role about, Cavani would have seen red. A Catch 22. You don’t want to see your players cheating, but should he have been smarter?

Anyway, 2-2 sees Arsenal in second and, with other groups concluding over the last 2 days as well, we can have an early sneek preview of what Arsenal could get in the first knock out stage:

And in Bullseye style, here’s what we could have won:

When you actually put them together like that, there is no real difference between finishing 1st and 2nd, bar playing at home in the 2nd leg.

The main difference between the two groups is Barcelona. Both will have teams that others want to avoid. None of the sides finishing top will exactly be relishing getting Bayern Munich, Real / Dortmund, Arsenal or Juventus / Sevilla. Likewise, trips to Napoli / Benifca / Besiktas or Monaco would be favourable to the sides finishing 2nd.

On the balance, it is sligtly better finishing top, as there will be one less Super Power to face. Barcelona or Leverkuson is the big difference.

Bar the dead rubber against Basel, we can put Europe to bed until the New Year, and give our top players a mid week break, for a couple of weeks at least.

On to Bournemouth.

Keenos
Follow @KeenosAFC

So my plan of blogging this week was simple.

Tuesday – Preview of Arsenal v PSG
Wednesday  – Summary of the Arsenal v PSG game
Thursday – Some January transfer ideas
Friday – Which key player do Arsenal seem to not be able to perform without
Saturday – Arsenal v Bournemouth preview

But I messed up. I thought Arsenal were playing last night, not tonight. So yesterday’s pre-game blog appeared a day earlier, and today blog summing up the game will not happen until tomorrow. This leaves me sitting here wondering what to write about.

Write nothing I imagine many of you are saying. But I am current on annual leave, with no money to do anything as I am moving house in the next few weeks, so I need to do something other than watch Jeremy Kyle, listen to TalkSport, eat a masturbate. My only other plan today is to go to Wilkinson’s and buy a new toilet seat. So you are stuck with me.

So sticking with the what is happening today, and mindful of the fact that I have already predicted my team:

Ospina
Jenkinson Mustafi Gabriel Gibbs
Xhaka Ramsey
Ox Ozil Iwobi
Giroud

So I will attempt to expand on yesterday’s thoughts where I discussed whether Arsenal should stick or twist tonight (or last night as it originally was on the blog) against PSG.

So expanding on that, I asked a simple question on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/KeenosAFC/status/801041844582760448

Now of course, let’s get rid of the BS that some people will reply. You can not guarantee wins in either game. That’s not football. But we all deal with hypothetical. All discuss who will win between Mike Tyson and Cassius Clay. All make our all time Cricket World XI. All discuss whether Graham’s 91 side was better than Wenger’s 04.

I was expecting it to be close.

So many people comment on Arsenal’s lack of progress in the Champions League. The biggest disappointment most fans have is that we have yet to win the big one. And it is all justified.

So why have the people voted so much in favour of Arsenal beating Bournemouth over PSG?

There could be a few reasons:

• Arsenal fans (like me) are bored with the Champions League, and would rather win the Premier League
• That Arsenal fans are more realistic that they sometimes make out, and recognise that we have more of a chance of winning the Premier League than the Champions League
• Or Arsenal fans realise we have qualified for the knock out stages already, so the Bournemouth game is actually more important

So remember, not matter the team put out tonight, win lose or draw, stand by your convictions.

If you were happy yesterday us playing a weakened XI and losing, to put us in the best chance of beating Bournemouth with fitter players, do not get angry, starting moaning and bitching, if that happens, and we finish 2nd, and get knocked out by Barcelona in the next round of the Champions League.

Keenos
Follow @KeenosAFC