The CL is a hard competition

After the group stage the Manchester clubs received a lot of abuse, particularly from Arsenal and Chelsea fans.

I was surprised at this, considering they were top of the Premiership. The CL is a very tough competition, and if they couldn't get past the group stages Arsenal and Chelseas chances in the KO stage would hardly seem great.

Arsenals game so far tonight seems support this. For a player like Walcott to start the game shows perhaps Arsenal aren't good enough to progress in this competition. Chelsea aren't doing much better than Arsenal in the league, so it will be interesting to see if they do well in the CL.

Maybe Henry can turn it round in the closing stages, but this is his last game tonight, so relying on him is not a good long-term strategy.