Arsenal continued their stellar UEFA Champions League campaign on Wednesday, with goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko and Declan Rice seeing them prevail 9-3 on aggregate against reigning Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven and secure a 2-2 draw in North London. An hour later in Madrid, Real Madrid edged Atlético Madrid on penalties to book their spot in European football’s elite eight. It means that, in order to return to the Champions League semifinals for the first time in 16 years, Arsenal will need to eliminate the reigning Spanish champions, the reigning European champions, and the reigning world champions.
Based on current form, Real Madrid are set to be the overwhelming favorites for next month’s quarterfinal. Prior to today’s penalty shootout win at the Metropolitano, Los Blancos had won five of their previous six matches. They have won six of their last seven matches in Europe’s premier competition, and more than anything, they have an unprecedented European heritage. They have won 15 Champions League titles, eight more than second-best Milan, and precisely 15 more than Arsenal.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have gone off the boil in recent weeks. They missed out on a trip to the EFL Cup Final after losing 4-0 on aggregate to Newcastle in the semifinals, and since then, their only victories have come against PSV Eindhoven and Leicester City. In that same time span, Arsenal have drawn to PSV, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest and lost to West Ham. They sit 15 points behind league leaders Liverpool with a game in hand, and in order to avoid a fifth consecutive trophyless season under Mikel Arteta, they need to win their maiden Champions League title.
READ MORE: MIKEL ARTETA WANTS TO SIGN TWO PLAYERS FROM THE SAME CLUB THIS SUMMER.
As opposed to Real, who have managed to pick up steam after a fairly unimpressive start to the campaign, Arsenal’s form has gone in the other direction. Initially, the Gunners were proving a tough nut to crack thanks in large part to their set-piece success, proving automatic from corner kick situations and earning praise from all corners of the footballing world.
“When you look at the number of goals that Arsenal are scoring from set-pieces this season, it shows you that having a set-piece coach who’s solely responsible for focusing on defending and attacking set-plays can be very useful for any team,” stated Atlético-CP manager Nikola Popović.
“As soon as they go up for a set-piece, you can tell that Arsenal believe they are going to score, and this is very important for each team. They are a constant threat and are the best team in the world right now when it comes to attacking dead balls,” added Popović.
However, it’s clear to see that Arsenal’s set-piece magic has since wore off. Having scored 10 goals from corner kicks in their first 21 league matches, Arsenal have since gone seven league matches without a goal from a corner kick. The numbers make for uncomfortable reading: over their past 12 matches in all competitions, Arsenal have attempted 94 corner kicks and failed to score from a single one.
READ MORE: FORMER ARSENAL CAPTAIN EXPLAINS WHY MIKEL ARTETA IS NOT A WORLD-CLASS MANAGER.
There are plenty of reasons behind Arsenal’s regression. Teams have started to do their research to adequately prepare for Arsenal’s set-pieces and defend against their aerial threats like Gabriel Magalhães, whilst the quality of the deliveries has also gone down. Perhaps the biggest explanation behind Arsenal’s decline in deliveries is the absence of Bukayo Saka.
Bukayo Saka has missed the past three months after undergoing hamstring surgery, and he is in a race against time to be fit for their upcoming quarterfinal vs. Real Madrid. “After the international break let’s see where [Saka] is,” stated Arteta in a recent press conference. “His progress is really good, he is really willing – as you can all imagine – so we are positive that in a few weeks hopefully he will be back.”
At 23 years of age, Saka has solidified his status as one of the top footballers in Europe, capable of threading the needle and setting up his teammates in golden situations as well as threatening the goalkeeper with a well-timed effort. And despite the fact that he hasn’t played a single minute of football since December 21, he still remains Arsenal’s top assist provider in the league with 10, twice as many as other player. Saka has provided five goal-creating actions from corner kicks this season, more than any other player in the Premier League.
Whereas in the past, Arsenal had a player who was capable of whipping in crosses that floated above the defense and curled just in front of the 6-yard box for a teammate to convert, that simply isn’t the case anymore. Neither Ethan Nwaneri nor Martin Ødegaard nor Rice have the technical capacity to provide the depth and direction with their set-pieces that Saka does; in fact, often times, they’re failing to clear the first man or sending it straight into the goalkeeper’s hands.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE NOW.ARSENAL WHATSAPP GROUP CHAT NOW!
But set-piece delivery only goes so far to describe Saka’s importance. He’s someone who can thrive in 1v1 situations, freezing up his defender and accelerating past him with a quick burst of pace, who has the creativity and vision to tee up his teammates in goal-scoring situations, and who has the close control and finesse to dribble out of tight areas and work the ball into dangerous, inverted areas.
It’s why Saka won the Arsenal Player of the Season in 2020/21 and 2021/22 as well as the England Men’s Player of the Year for 2021/22 and 2022/23, and it’s why he’s managed to cement his status as an integral figure in attack for Arsenal and the England national team. He has the intelligent decision-making and athleticism to change the game at any given moment and will his team to victory, and he could be the difference between Arsenal challenging for the title and exiting at the quarterfinals for a second-straight year. Whilst Gabriel Martinelli has recently returned to full fitness, he doesn’t come anywhere close to Saka’s level of production and consistency for Arsenal.
In contrast to their other rivals for the Champions League crown, Arsenal don’t have an elite-level goal scorer. They don’t have a Robert Lewandowski, or a Harry Kane, or a Ousmane Dembélé, or a Lautaro Martínez, or a Kylian Mbappé, or a Vinícius Júnior. Even lesser-fancied sides like Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund have a reliable goal-scoring threat in Serhou Guirassy and Ollie Watkins. Arsenal, meanwhile don’t even have a fit striker.
With both of Arsenal’s center forwards in Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz out for the rest of the season, and with central midfielder Mikel Merino being forced to deputize out of position in an unnatural #9 role, Saka’s void has grown even more noticeable. Excluding their recent matches vs. PSV, Arsenal have managed to score over one goal in just one of their previous five matches – a 2-0 win against a Leicester side that is on track for relegation.
Arsenal will be looking to recover from their woeful run of form, which has seen them take two points from their last three league matches, as they seek their first home win since their 5-1 thrashing of Manchester City on February 2. However, if they are to beat Chelsea on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium, they’ll have to do so without their most creative outlet in attack.
NEXT ARTICLE: MIKEL ARTETA’S NUMBER ONE TRANSFER TARGET RESPONDS TO ARSENAL LINKS.
