gollllllllllll atleti

costa from a corner

atleti have been better in the 2nd half..their super fitness is showing

Take that you Italian Italians.

atleti take a 0-1 lead to madrid

good result

Ozil poo

50mil euro for a guy who just strolls around the pitch, putting so little effort, stand up Mesut, motm

Great win for Los Rojiblancos however im now concerned.

This is a huge test for them

Playing 2 games a week will now be taking its toll.

They've been doing it all season except for Dec. Jan there was midweek football every week due to the Copa del Rey, where they faced each of Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and R.Madrid twice.

coointer...hello my friend

hello peks

Real M done very well to get back in the title race.

All the group winners looking good to go through then.

Over to you, Real, United, Chelsea and Dortmund.

Very good goal by Costa last night. Wasn't at all spectacular, but it was a lofted ball and he needed to take three steps back and connect from and awkward position, and he still managed to head it with enough power and precision to put it away.

Yeah, I thought that was excellent from Costa.

I was disappointed with Bayern last night, they could have easily gone to a 4-2-3-1 shape alot earlier and pressed home the advantage. 0-2 is still of course a great result.

Sadly, as soon as Ozil missed the penalty I felt Arsenals chance might be gone.

I do think though that Arsenal can take the positive that they actually pressed effectively and made Bayern look pedestrian with their speed and skill going forward. It's something they can take with them for the rest of what is still a promising season.

The hardest thing at Arsenal imo is for them to overcome this defeatist atmosphere that seems to set in as soon as anything goes wrong. At least on these boards, all most fans seem to have done over the past month is whine and whinge about how everything's going wrong. I don't want to sound ageist, but I presume a lot of them have forgotten or have never experienced as adults all the ups and downs you need to traverse on your way to a title. They seem to think everything should be straightforward from start to finish, as if they were playing the amateur level of FIFA.

Barca charged with tax fraud

Over neymar transfer

Say reuters

AU, thing with Arsenal is that people always come away saying 'at least they can take a positive from.....' but what seems to be the case is that so often they don't take the positives and they end up not really doing much, especially in the CL.

How often do you hear Arsenal fans talk about drawing and beating Barca? Winning 3-0 against Milan? Winning 2-0 in Munich?

It's brought up whenever they play in the CL, but they lost those ties. Arsenal are a good team, there's always going to be something positive to take from a 180 min game of football, but the reality is that they aren't good enough for 180 mins, and I just don't think Wenger is the man to take them forward in the CL.

They may go on to win the title (I don't think they will this season) but I just cannot see Arsenal ever winning the CL under Wenger because he's just not up to it, in my opinion.

Wilshere did well last night, as did ox I thought. 2 positives for World Cup.

Wilshere was alright for about 20 mins. Played some nice passes and a lovely through ball for Ozil, beyond that he did his usual giving the ball away and running into the opponent.

I think he's a very talented player, but he's so overrated it's untrue, he doesn't actually effect matches positively enough yet and can often be a liability.

On current form I'd rather see Henderson starting for England than Wilshere, and I don't rate Henderson at all.

The Ox played well in the first half, and has looked pretty good the last few games, so that's a big plus for us as I think our wing options are lacking.

Actually don't always do this but checked whoscored stats, it was the defensive side wilshere impressed me with but he got 0 interceptions and 0 tackles. I think I may have mistaken him.

Henderson and wilshere will probably play. Stevie needs legs next to him.

Rocicky should've started, rocicky should always start. Team rocicky.

it was the defensive side wilshere impressed me with but he got 0 interceptions and 0 tackles
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Yeah possibly. The England team is so up in the air at the moment as many that have been mainstays in the squad, or looked like they would be, are underperforming and there are lesser players performing better.

I think a lot depends on the Rooney and Sturridge conundrum? Do we try and fit them both in an sacrifice a midfielder? Or play one of them out of position?

On current form you'd have to say, as much as it pains me, that England might be best off with Gerrard, Henderson, Sturridge and Sterling playing together as they've struck up such a good chemistry for Liverpool the last couple of seasons.

AU, thing with Arsenal is that people always come away saying 'at least they can take a positive from.....' but what seems to be the case is that so often they don't take the positives and they end up not really doing much, especially in the CL.

How often do you hear Arsenal fans talk about drawing and beating Barca? Winning 3-0 against Milan? Winning 2-0 in Munich?

It's brought up whenever they play in the CL, but they lost those ties. Arsenal are a good team, there's always going to be something positive to take from a 180 min game of football, but the reality is that they aren't good enough for 180 mins, and I just don't think Wenger is the man to take them forward in the CL.

They may go on to win the title (I don't think they will this season) but I just cannot see Arsenal ever winning the CL under Wenger because he's just not up to it, in my opinion.
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Can't argue with any of that to be honest, Arsenal just aren't growing with experience like a team and a coach should.

The hardest thing at Arsenal imo is for them to overcome this defeatist atmosphere that seems to set in as soon as anything goes wrong. At least on these boards, all most fans seem to have done over the past month is whine and whinge about how everything's going wrong. I don't want to sound ageist, but I presume a lot of them have forgotten or have never experienced as adults all the ups and downs you need to traverse on your way to a title. They seem to think everything should be straightforward from start to finish, as if they were playing the amateur level of FIFA.
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I do think Arsenal as a club have suffered mentally more than technically. Sadly after all the years Wenger has been in-charge, the team is absolutely a reflection of him.

For Arsenal to really get to the top they either need Wenger to suddenly step up or they need new leadership....