Benfica Vs Arsenal (UEL)

Matchday
#41

Milan have a better goalkeeper, better full backs (Tierney is better than all of their FBs but Calabria is better than Hector and Theo is a good LB in his own right), better CBs and better CMs than us.

I’d take Kessie, Bennacer, Tonali at Arsenal over every midfielder bar Partey. And I’d take Donnarumma over Leno for sure.

Milan have a long way to go and they’re let down by having a less than spectacular attacking lineup but the foundations are very strong.

In other words - they do not fucking suck lol

#42

Real Sociedad and Napoli are good sides.

1 Like
#43

I think Gattuso is so limited as a coach that I’d hope we can beat Napoli despite their quality.

#44

I’m shook of many teams tbh, how many good full 90minutes have we had this season? West Brom, Newcastle and…? Maybe if we had a different manager i’d be way more confident.

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#45

Serie A tax is strong.

Odegaard, Saka, ESR, Auba are all miles better than anyone they have in attack. I’d take Odegaard over any Milan midfielder to be clear.

Their defence may be better but only marginally so.

Calabria is better than Bellerin but that doesn’t take much.

That’s not to say they won’t beat us. Pioli is probably a better coach than Arteta.

But I will never rate Serie A sides in the EL until they prove me wrong.

Not after 2018 and 2019.

3 Likes
#46

We aren’t winning the Europa League.

How many attempts do we want? Embarrassing lol

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#47

I don’t really think you watch the Serie A sides you just base your opinion on the small sample size of games you watch in Europe.

The same Napoli we ate alive in the EL beat Liverpool and outplayed PSG so the logic you’re using is flawed.

I don’t even know what Serie A tax means. So you’ll have to explain that.

But the truth is - Milan do not “fucking suck” they’re a good team with some very good young players. And, as I said, they’re a flawed attacking outfit but Rebic, Leao, Ibra and Diaz are no slouches. They’re just lacking quality on the right wing.

#48

I guess we will see.

The Italian team I was most scared of in Europe isn’t in Europe at all anymore so I’m glad.

For me, the main thing standing in the way of an EL triumph is Arteta.

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#49

The thing is Milan at this point will be going after the Scudetto, that may well impact on their Europa League team selection @SRCJJ

#50

I think we’ll eat Milan alive in Europe I just don’t agree with the point that they fucking suck lol.

I think Milan will put out a shit team and lose

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#51

They don’t tbf, that was just a play on words from sdgooner’s original post.

I don’t think they’ll be a threat at all though.

My true thoughts on that team is that they had a good run earlier in the season but they’re not as good as that position in the table shows. Especially after a few injuries.

They will revert to type to an extent now imo. Not a title challenge but will probs get CL.

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#52

Can’t believe people looking past Benfica at who else is in the competition.

Its very much in the balance as to whether we even get through the last 32.

3 Likes
#53

We’re not. I, at least, am just stating where the blame should lie if we fail in this competition.

Not the players or the team, before anyone starts that. Or Edu.

#54

TBF, Benfica haven’t looked great shakes (according to their own supporters) this year.

I’ll be disappointed but not surprised if Arteta reverted to a more conservative approach with Auba on the wing and Lacazette in the middle despite evidence showing it’s probably not the way forward.

I would love to see a similar formation on Thursday and a willingness to lean into the creative players.

Also, Willian should not travel. Under no circumstances should he be involved. We don’t need to see him or use this game as a way to rehabilitate him.

3 Likes
#55

Why not? Not saying the manager’s good enough, but our players have consistently shown they’re not good enough. They’re not just waiting for the manager with the magic formula to turn up.

I also think “blame” implies we should expect success in this competition when there’s really no reason to.

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#56

This squad isn’t worse, obviously for a large part the same, than the 18/19 squad that got 5th and misses out on 4th on one point. That happened under a shit manager too. That shows there is quality there for top four or too at least compete for that. It’s on the manager to get that out.

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#57

Bookies still have it as English dominance

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I don’t watch Benfica, but bookies have them down at 60/1 to win the whole thing, so I’m going to choose not to be scared of them

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#58

If Mourinho can keep the morale of the squad up, I reckon Spurs will do it.

#59

I’m just excited to play a team that isn’t Olympiakos

7 Likes
#60

There’s actually more good teams in that lineup that I realized. Fuck it, you’ve got to beat the averagely mediocre best to be the averagely mediocre best.

6 Likes